Korean hanji and the shadow of Japanese occupation
Summary and headline written by AI from the source article. How we work
A Korean-American papermaker reflects on how the widespread use of the Japanese term “kozo” to describe East Asian paper fibers obscures the history of Korean papermaking, known as “hanji.”
The author noticed the term consistently used as a blanket descriptor for paper from the region, prompting a deeper look at how this practice overlooks Korea’s own rich traditions. From 1910 to 1945, Japan occupied Korea and actively suppressed Korean language and culture, replacing them with Japanese equivalents.
This included cultural practices like papermaking, where Japanese techniques and terminology became dominant. The author argues that the continued use of “kozo” as a general term for East Asian paper contributes to a form of historical amnesia, unintentionally prioritizing one nation’s tradition over others. She notes this is especially impactful given the ongoing movement towards decolonization within craft practices. The papermaker began to investigate how this linguistic habit silences the specific history and identity of Korean hanji.
She questions when and how a single tradition came to represent the whole of East Asian papermaking, and what the implications are for preserving diverse cultural practices.
