A Japanese company created the thinnest paper in the world and it's used to preserve art at the Vatican and the Louvre — see how it's made

Tengujo paper process.KAZUHIRO NOGI/AFP via Getty Images

• Tenjugo is the thinnest paper in the world, made by a company in Japan.
• The paper dries to become nearly transparent and is used for repairing historical documents.
• It's been used to preserve art in the Louvre and the Vatican.
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The thinnest paper in the world, tenjugo, comes from a single factory in Japan's Kochi prefecture.

Tenjugo was produced by hand for over 1,000 years, until the 20th century. It has been used for ceremonial purposes, including writing and artwork, and later as paper for typewriters, Oliver Whang at The New York Times reported. Now, the paper is made using machines, and is thinner than ever.

Repairing and preserving artwork and historical documents is risky work, and doing so too aggressively risks damaging the original piece. As machines made tenjugo thinner, its clear use became conservation. Tenjugo is used all around the world for conservation, from the Louvre to the British Museum to the Vatican.

Here's how it's made.