Downloadable Reference to Japanese Paper Dimensions

I’ve posted a chart of standard Japanese paper dimensions. This will primarily be of use to graphic designers, artists, or researchers that need a quick reference to dimensions of prints, photographs, or other papers. This TIFF file is very small, only 216K, but very high rez and optimized for laser printing. Iy should be easily viewable if you click on the image to zoom in (the type is very tiny, the original document was a wallet-sized card).

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I picked up this reference card in an art supplies shop in Tokyo several years ago. This may seem like an extremely obscure set of information, but there really is an interesting story behind it. Governmental regulations on paper dimensions go back hundreds of years in Japan, and the archaic names in kanji (i.e. “hanga” or “half-picture”) still give a hint of that ancient system.

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