There are three common Japanese/oriental fibers: kozo, gampi, and
mitsumata. I can give you some US sources of the fibers. I can also give
you some US paper merchants. I can give you names of several people in the
UK who are papermakers and might be of some help.
The one US handmade paper and papermaking supplies business that has an
e-mail address (that I know about!) is Twinrocker Handmade Paper:
hclark@dcwi.com
You might get in touch with them. They make paper for people who don't
make paper themselves. They, the Clarks, might give you some leads about
the UK.
All of this information is from contacts via the Friends of Dard Hunter, an
international group of about 450 people interested in all aspects of
handmade paper. When more of the final details are known, I'm going to
post information about the annual meeting which will be in NY City 24-26
Oct. There will also be a one-day lead-in symposium on Wed, the 23rd,
about some of the interactions (all aspects of that word!) between
papermakers and artists who use paper.
John Bordley