Film Washi Y 120

Overview

"Y" is a panchromatic black-and-white negative hand-coated one roll at a time onto Moriki Paper's Tosa kozo washi, 28 g/m², with an anti-curl back layer, then hand-spooled onto 120 with recycled backing paper; every coating is individual, and its small variations are part of the result. Film Washi rates it soft in contrast, very strong in texture and medium in transparency: on the same paper as the ISO 25 orthochromatic "W", it runs two stops faster and far gentler, while the paper's own fibre still prints through every frame. Its sensitivity extends to 640 nm, so no safelight is safe — unlike "W", it must be loaded and developed in complete darkness. The support is paper, so it will not thread onto a modern plastic spiral by itself: use Film Washi's separate Processing Leader, or an old Correx/Souplinox-type tank. Published times at 20 °C are Rodinal 1+25 for 9 min, Ilford LC29 1+19 for 8 min, D-76 1+1 for 11 min and HC-110 dilution A for 4.5 min; for any other developer Film Washi says to follow Ilford FP4 data, agitating regularly — stand development is not recommended. Skip the acid stop bath and use cold water instead, fix 10–12 minutes, wash at least 25 minutes changing the water every 5 minutes, and check for white patches of unfixed emulsion before drying. It dries very curly: rolled back onto its spool with the backing paper for about 12 hours it flattens again, after which it scans by transmission like any other negative. The rolls are hand-spooled, so never force the winding lever, and secure the exposed roll with tape or a rubber band because the paper will not stay rolled by itself — and note that Film Washi itself asks you to develop "W", "V", "Y" and "R" yourself or check with your lab first, as many labs decline them.