Like so many other materials in Japan, paper too has come in for many hundreds of years of artistic consideration. At one period of the country’s history, the paper on which a poem was written was as important as the poem itself. A thousand years ago there were whole towns actively engaged in making paper. Such towns still exist, but there were also many farming villages which then, as they do today, made paper to earn extra income during the winter. At present, about half of Japan’s farmers must add to their incomes with winter jobs. Although a large amount of winter employment is provided by construction companies, some farmers continue to work at such cottage industries as paper making.