白，素淨的顏色，明明無色無相，然而白仍有如此多的層次，使白與白交疊之時，結成最虛無又最多變的風景。京都的唐紙工匠嘉戶浩，以木版印刷技術，在素白的和紙之上，印上素白的圖案，製成牆紙、屏風、信紙、信封。每張紙張看似空無一物，但其實無邊無際。
木版印刷造成圖案紙張的技術，起源於中國，因此在日本稱之為唐紙。嘉戶浩於美國三藩市完成了平面設計學位課程後回到老家京都，並遇上了製作唐紙的老舖唐長，成為了唐紙工匠，做圖案設計，也學習唐紙的製作方法————如何為紙張染色、不同材質的紙張著色效果有何分別……然後，在2009年，他成立了自己的工作室Kamisoe。
紙張是善變的東西。天氣潮濕了、乾燥了、受日照了、年長了，紙張的色澤、吸收顏料的力度都有所差異，因此即使用上相同的顏料、相同的印板，印出來的唐紙都有微妙的差異。因應天氣等客觀條件而採取對策，依賴的只有工匠的經驗。「線條幼的圖案用較濃的顏料，線條就能清晰一點，大面積的圖案則可用較稀的。」嘉戶浩說，這其實不過是他的個人喜好，不一定是最美的，始終，美其實有很多種。
White is the colour of purity. It is achromatic and yet possesses many different shades. When two shades of white meet, they create nihility and indefiniteness. Kado Ko is a karagami artisan in Kyoto. Using the technique of woodblock printing, Kado prints pure white patterns on pure white Japanese paper. These karagamis made by Kado are used as wallpaper, folding screen, writing paper and envelope. An infinite imagery is unearthed together when you unfold the barrenness borne by Kado’s paper.
Woodblock printing originates in China, therefore printed-paper created by this technique is known as karagami (paper from Tang Dynasty) in Japanese. Upon graduating from a graphic design degree in San Francisco, Kado returned to his hometown in Kyoto. This was the time when he met the karagami artisan Karacho who inspired Kado to become a karagami himself. This acquaintance was the turning point when Kado started to learn to design patterns, and to learn about all the necessary techniques for creating karagami. From Karacho, Kado acquired the craftsmanship of colouring paper, and the knowledge about the distinctive characteristics of various kinds of paper. He finally started his own workshop Kamisoe in 2009.
Paper is an ever-changing material — humidity, sunshine, age of the paper — all of these elements can affect its capacity of absorbing dye, and of course, its final colour. There is a subtle difference in every piece of karagami even if they are printed by the same dye and same woodblock. Every artisan has to apply his or her experience in judging the best treatment according to the external conditions like weather. “Denser dye is used for printing fine lines; more diluted dye can be used for printing bigger sized patterns.” Kado Ko’s preference may or may not create the most beautiful paper. Beauty, after all, does not have a singular definition.
