The paper workshops of Mino are private residences, and an introduction is required to visit them. However, the former home of Hon-minoshi maker Furuta Kozo (1923–1994) is open to the public. Like most paper workshops in Mino, it faces south for maximum sunlight and has a large yard in front of the house for drying paper on wooden boards.

The two-story residence was built in 1872 and retains some of its original furnishings. The main entrance hall has a tamped earth floor and leads directly into the workshop on the right. Visitors can see original tools and equipment for making washi. The workshop faces south to the Itadori River, and large windows let in sunlight, which was important for judging the thickness of the paper during the making process. 

To the left of the entrance hall, visitors can remove their shoes and step up into two tatami rooms used for receiving guests. Large photographs show the Furuta family at work, from soaking kozo (paper mulberry) bark in the nearby river to screening the pulp slurry of kozo fibers. The family’s living room and sleeping quarters are at the back of the house.

Upstairs is a storeroom for sericulture equipment. Many Mino papermakers engaged in other industries such as sericulture between April and September when they were not making paper. The kozo branches are harvested in winter and the mucilage for dispersing the bast fibers through water is most stable in cold weather, so winter is considered the best time for making washi. Mino washi is generally made from October through March, leaving the rest of the year for other pursuits.

Furuta Kozo entered the family washi business after graduating from high school in 1936 and became the first chairman of the Association for the Preservation of Hon-minoshi Papermaking in 1968.

Most of the volunteer staff at the house are former washi makers. The Former Furuta Kozo Residence is around 8 minutes by foot from Mino Washi Paper Museum. 

The residence is open on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, from March to November, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Admission is free.