mt masking tape

This was really a case of love at first sight – these beautiful and colourful masking tapes from Japan captured our hearts at the first sighting! Just how many uses can a person come up with? The possibilities seem almost unlimited.

The Japanese company Kamoi, which has been famous since 1923 for its fly paper and masking tapes for industrial and building trade use, introduced this new style of masking tape to the Japanese market in 2007 after being the only company from among many that saw the potential of this idea as presented to them by three very creative women. The women were right: within three years these tapes achieved a kind of cult status in Japan.

The “masking tape” (mt) is not only great looking but turns out to be very functional as well. The fact that it is made out of rice paper means that it can be written or drawn on by every type of pen. It can be easily torn by hand but also fits in most roll dispensers designed for small standard adhesive tapes. The adhesive itself is configured in such a way that it will not only stick on paper but functions equally as well on surfaces which actually deviate from total smoothness, including even walls. It is easy to remove and leaves not a trace of residue on a paper or a wall where it had been attached and can even be subsequently reused.
This, of course, widens the range of its possible uses immeasurably. For example, as a means of decorating an apartment, giving walls a new look, making lamp shades, attaching reminders on a wall; gifts can of course be wrapped with such a decorative tape or it can simply be used as a sticker on letters or pages that can then be stuck on the refrigerator or in a notebook. It is also great for children’s handicrafts because it is so easy to work with – and even more so because there can be no spilling or smearing or unwanted glue.

The surface of the tape is water repellent, which is not to say waterproof. Note: the adhesive coating reacts negatively to moisture. However, for things like making individual designs on party mugs or short-term lettering on display windows or other uses where only a temporary and small amount of moisture is involved, this product works fine. Too much light and heat can affect the adhesive attributes of the tape and thereby negatively influence its removability. Very interesting effects can be achieved by taping the light coloured tapes, which are particularly transparent, over lettering, drawings or printed materials.

The tapes come in many beautiful colours and patterns – there is definitely a tape to match your taste! Caution: highly addictive!

Well now, what is in this book? We really do not know for sure because none of us can read Japanese and a detailed synopsis could not be found. So naturally the question arises, why offer this book at all? Answer: first of all, it is written by the three women who invented the MT WASHI MASKING TAPE (Ayumi Tsujimoto, Seiko Inomata und Nami Ogiwara). They are obviously a creative group, which, together with the numerous illustrations, adds up to a book full of interesting ideas even without the text! It is a super source for mining the possibilities of Washi masking tape or adhesive tapes in general. There seem to be unlimited applications and uses for that removable Japanese masking tape that comes in beautiful colours and patterns and which is of course available at Modulor. A partial list: decorate letters and gifts, beautify walls, windows and furniture, design lighting fixtures, organize the office, etc. And the book also provides, by virtue of the (unreadable but beautiful) characters and design, a kind of inside look at the autochthonous Japanese aesthetic. Once you start looking through it you can hardly put it down. Try it!