Adventures of Young Tezuka Kunimitsu

Chapter 25 : Paper Museum

"You're tilting it too much," Kyouya complained.

Kunimitsu was at the Paper Museum with his classmates. They did not have class. Instead, they will spend the whole day at the museum. Kyouya was his buddy for the day.

Kunimitsu and Kyouya held a big rectangular wooden frame between them. The bottom side was covered with thin mesh. They were dunking the frame into a big tub filled with water and bits of floating things that their teacher said will turn into paper.

Kunimitsu did not see how dirty water can make paper. But Sensei said the paper is swimming inside the water.

They gave the frame one more dunking and lifted it above the water. Then they turned in upside down over a box covered with cloth. The museum man gave them big sponges to mop up the water. When they lifted one corner of the screen, Kyouya crouched down to check.

"Is there paper?" asked Kunimitsu.

"No."

"Let's press harder."

"It's still stuck."

Kunimitsu checked the adults around him. Seeing that they were busy, he climbed on top of the frame. Pressing down with his full weight, the water dripped over the sides.

"It's spilling!" Kyouya ran around mopping up the floor.

Kunimitsu climbed back down. This time, the paper bit came off when they lifted the frame.

They gave their paper to the museum man to dry. Then they grabbed another frame to make a new one. Kyouya picked a smaller square. Kunimitsu got a round one. They went to the smaller tubs that make thick papers. The girls there added flowers and leaves to their paper. There were many children crowded around these tubs because they can add glittering sparkles and colourful threads to their creations.

Kunimitsu all ready knew how it worked. He wanted to know what else he can do with this. He avoided the crowd to find a less popular tub. The last one was unoccupied, except by an ojisan.

He smiled when Kunimitsu stood next to him. "Just wait a minute while I refill the tub," he said.

Kunimitsu watched him take a ladle full of pulpy thing from a pail and plop it into the water. Then he stirred it till the lump disappeared. It was like when Mama cooked miso soup.

He knelt down and peered into the pail. There was two scoopfuls left in it. He poked it. It was soft and paste like, but not sticky like the dough Mama makes.

Kunimitsu gave his frame to the ojisan.

"Eh? Don't you want to dip your frame inside?"

Kunimitsu shook his head. "I want the pail, please. Exchange." He gave the ojisan his serious, responsible face. It usually worked on adults.

The ojisan laughed. "Okay. But you can't put any more pulp inside the tub or it will be too thick."

Kunimitsu nodded.

"And the pail stays here. Don't take it outside."

Kunimitsu nodded again and the ojisan left him with the pail. He dug his hands into the paste-like pulp. It felt a little bit like the clays they play with in the kindergarten. But he could squeeze it to make the water come out. The more water he squeezed, the harder it gets. He nodded to himself and started playing by himself.

When the teacher sent out the last call for the children to send their paper for drying, Kunimitsu had a row of balls and snowmen. He gave them to the oneesan who ran the drying machine. She paused a moment when she saw his neatly arranged rows of highly irregular paper products. Then she laughed and helped him transferred them to a tray so they could fit them inside the machine.

When the last of the pieces were sent to the dryer, they all lined up and moved to the next activity room.

A young docent told them about the story of clay tablets, papyrus and parchment made from animal skins. But those are hard to make and even harder to write on. Clay tablets took 1 to 3 days to write and dry. Papyrus needed to be pounded, then layered piece by piece, one on top of another. Animal skins had to be soaked for 8 days or more to make a single piece of paper.

So, in 105 AD, a Chinese official called Cai Lun invented paper. It was so useful, it spread all over the world. The same kind of paper was still used today. The paper making technique was so easy, all the children had done it themselves.

Kunimitsu raised his hand.

"Yes, Tezuka-kun," said Sensei, signalling the docent to pause for a moment.

He stood up. "Sensei! Paper was invented by China around 100 BCE. In 105 AD, the writing paper making process was made by Cai Lun. He did not invent it. It says so in Papa's encyclopaedia." He bowed and sat back down.

"Eh?" Sensei checked his notes.

The young docent frowned. "You are wrong, Tezuka-kun."

But the curator held his hand up to forestall him. He coughed lightly. "Actually, the little boy is correct. Excavation of a Han Tomb in Xian, China has found paper used for wrapping and padding bronze mirrors dated as early as 2nd century BC. Till now, we do not know who really invented paper. Thank you, young man."

The kids clapped excitedly.

"What's ensaisai, Kunimitsu-kun?" asked Mika-chan.

"En-cy-clo-pae-dia. It's a book of knowledge. It has everything you want to know about anything. Almost everything. But only because my Papa knows more things than the book."

The class ooohh and aaahh with demands to see it and to bring it to class.

Sensei raised her voice and quickly brought the children back to attention. Then, the docent could resume the rest of the show and tell.

"That's an interesting young man you have there."

"Tezuka-kun? Yes. Mostly, he doesn't stand out much."

"Hmm ... they are usually the quiet ones." The curator laughed softly. "We ran the same script for 3 years, for all ages. This is the first time someone pointed out the error. And it is a six year old child! Most kids his age forgot everything by the time they stepped out the door. Somehow, I think your children will remember paper was invented in 100 BC by the Chinese."

Sensei laughed in agreement. No doubt, she would remember it too.

At the end of the day, the children's paper making items were dry and ready for them. Kyouya had picked up their big plain paper. Its edge was frayed and jagged, not at all like the clean white paper they were used to at home. The others had smaller colourful pieces to show off to their friends.

Kunimitsu's paper sculptures came in a little origami box that the dryer oneesan made for him. Because he had the most unusual 'paper', the other children crowded around him and he was obliged to pass the box around for them to see. Then he showed them how to play with his new toys. He lined up the little snowmen. Then used the balls to knock them down.

When Kunimitsu went home, he told his Mama, "We must not waste paper. It is really long to make! We have squeeze and squeeze the water out. It takes many hours to dry!"

Note:
*INTJs are extremely insightful, and see things that are not obvious to others. They have ability to see patterns and meanings, generate all kinds of possibilities with real world materials. Others may see what is and wonder why; INTJs see what might be and say "Why not?"

Response to Reviewers:

Aoe chan : Hehe! Encyclopaedia to an NT kid is like candy. Angel egg fanart? Wish I'd seen that one. I wished the Perfect Editions had baby pictures of Tezuka. Sanada and Atobe's were so adorable. *dies of cuteness* Unpaid child labour in cooking is great way to keep kids occupied, if you don't mind a bit of mess.

Faoiltierna : Sweet potato is my favourite as a kid. Nice warm dessert/snack.

Amarie-Chil : Thanks for pointing it out, I didn't notice he went to bed with a book. He is well on his way to geniusdom. The purpleness in him is strong, it transcend time and space. Hehe!

Sarang-Ui Mellodi : My FF email alerts were laggy too. But it looks like it's back to normal now.