The Goka area, Echizen Washi

A gift passed down from the gods: Parents make paper, and children too; grandchildren make paper as well. (Echizen papermaking song) The home of Echizen washi in Echizen City, Fukui Prefecture is the Goka area, a cluster of five small villages––Oizu, Ōtaki, Iwamoto, Shinzaike, and Sadatomo––blessed with abundant spring water and surrounded by mountains. This area of Echizen was developed early: to the west lies the Takefu Basin, home of the old provincial government and to the south over the mountain one sees Ajimano, an old kofun grave mound site.