From our humble beginnings in
1982, when owner Nancy Jacobi started
showing artists and bookbinders these
gorgeous papers from the trunk of
her car, The Japanese Paper Place
staff of 11 remain committed to the company's
ideal of encouraging and promoting
creativity with quality Japanese
papers.
Though we have a warehouse full
of machinemade and decorative Japanese
papers which we ship around the world,
our particular passion is for sharing
traditional Japanese handmade papers
with the world while they are still
being made.
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Nancy Jacobi |
Meet the staff
Nancy Jacobi
Nancy Jacobi, founder of The Japanese
Paper Place, has made it her life's passion
to promote Japanese paper for the treasure
that it is. Her love of travel and art,
her gifts of communication and creativity,
and her keen sense for upcoming trends
have been key in building this business
and bringing Japanese paper to the world.
Her enthusiasm and sense of humour combine
with her deep knowledge of these papers
to inspire staff and customers alike. In
her spare time she enjoys traveling, baroque
music, jazz, theatre, and swimming at
her summer cottage.
A cast of creative, skillful and knowledgeable
paper-loving staff keep things humming
at the warehouse:
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Sigrid
Blohm Sigrid
Blohm is a lover of things natural,
including canoeing in Ontario's
north country. She works magic
with natural Japanese papers
like soft Tengu-jo tissue which
she stitches in layers and gampi
and kozo paper which she dyes
in her own indigo vat. She is
our Fine Paper Manager and helps
to organize workshops (her own “stitching
washi” included)
and exhibitions, and gives advice
with the knowledge that comes
from long experience using and
being passionate about traditional
Japanese paper. |
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Walter
Chatterpaul
At our Toronto
warehouse, Walter Chatterpaul
has been our assistant building
manager and chief cutter for
the past seven years. Accurate
cutting both by hand and by machine
is extremely important in the
paper business -- to these Walter
brings both care and precision.
His recommended paper is a "well-behaved" one
like machine-made Mokume. Walter
has made measurement and cutting
on our huge electric cutter as
much an art as lacemaking or
woodturning. His record of accuracy
has us considering his nomination
for the Guinness Book of World
Records. He loves rock & roll,
and has taught us all about his
birth country, Guyana. |
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Shirley
Imaizumi Shirley
Imaizumi has brought her years
of Ninjutsu training in the gentle
arts of persuasion to her position
as Manager of Canadian Wholesale.
A fellow English teacher with
founder Nancy in the 70s in Japan,
she has been on staff here since
the eighties and is a Japanophile
through and through. If you need
help putting together an order
of highly sellable paper product
for your store or putting together
a trip to Japan, Shirley's the
one to email. |
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Peter
Jones
Among
many caps that Peter wears is
that of "Creative Director
of Packaging." We receive
many unsolicited compliments
on how well papers are packaged.
He is also the
capable jack-of-all-trades who
makes sure our warehouse environment
is safe and pleasant - down to
the great jazz tunes playing
on the stereo in the shipping
and cutting area.
Peter is also
happy to pass along his expertise
in one of our most popular workshops, "Lampshade
Making." |
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Jessica Mann
Jessica, fresh from her first trip to Japan - she loved it! - is our Webmistress and sales associate for U.S. and worldwide origami customers. Also, as a self-professed geek, she is the computer software and hardware wrangler for the office. She has a fascination with treehouses, and can always be bribed with cookies of dark chocolate. |
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Julia Prime
As a graduate of printmaking from the Ontario College of Art and Design, Julia brings her eye for colour combinations and her creative ideas to the Production area as Kayoko's assistant. |
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Alison Reid
Alison
is our resident Office Goddess
and the pleasant voice you
will most often hear when you
call. She is also in charge
of answering email inquiries
and attending to our many graphic
arts needs. She also enjoys
the combination of light,
colour and washi, in the
form of candle lanterns, translucent papier-mache
and illuminated festival props.
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Kayoko
Torii Production
manager Kayoko's keen aesthetic
sense and organizational
skills show
through in everything she does
- from creating the fabulous
colour combinations of papers found
in our "Potluck" series
of packaged products to the
crisp origami and delightful
paper dolls she makes.
Although she always
puts in a full day's effort,
we do occasionally catch
her gazing
longingly out the window
in really good golfing weather.
Kayoko rallied to help us
after our devastating fire
in 1993 and has continued
to help us in countless ways
ever since. |
| Duke Tran
Duke
has been with us for two and a half years and has become a professional packer with a proud record of packages arrived in perfect condition. As well as this, Duke has a fantastic head for remembering Chiyogami codes - amongst other numbers. Sudoku anyone?
When
the boss isn’t looking,
he and Nancy do Tai Chi between
the shelves. |
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Mary Jane Varro
Mary
Jane – known around the
office as “MJ” -
was first
introduced to natural Japanese
papers as a student at the
Ontario College of Art and
Design. She loves
their versatility and resiliency,
and uses them almost exclusively
in her own dyed and stitched
artwork. With a professional
background in communications,
MJ combines
her skills and passions to
provide art supply store and
U.S. accounts with the JPP’s
special brand of customer service.
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