Tachikiri Gold Leaf, Pack of 10 Sheets

Kanazawa gold leaf is made by two different methods: "enzuke" (paper-matured) gold leaf and "tachikiri" (cut-edge) gold leaf. Tachikiri gold leaf is a modern method developed in the 1960s to meet rapidly growing demand for gold leaf. Like enzuke gold leaf, it begins with the "sumi" process, in which the alloy is beaten out to a thickness of roughly 1/1,000 mm, but the steps that follow are different.

First comes "sumikiri," in which the uwazumi sheets produced at the sumi workshop are cut into some 9 to 12 squares and rectangles of various sizes, so that each piece of gold leaf weighs the same. Next is "shiire," in which the uwazumi is sandwiched between sheets of special beating paper — machine-made glassine coated with carbon — and then "uchimae," in which it is beaten in a leaf-beating machine until it reaches a thinness of about 1/10,000 mm. The finished gold leaf then goes through "haku-utsushi," being carefully transferred one sheet at a time onto interleaving paper (hakuaishi) and stacked, and finally "haku-tachi," in which stacks of about 1,000 sheets are trimmed to the prescribed size.

Because the process is simplified compared with enzuke gold leaf, which uses hand-made washi, it allows for quick large-scale production and consistent quality at a more affordable price. This is the method behind the majority of gold leaf produced today. Delivered in packs of 10 sheets.