In that past, we've seen some incredibly intricate and beautiful work produced by the art form of kirie, or traditional Japanese paper cutting, which is also very similar to kirigami. While origami may be the more famous Japanese paper art, Japanese Twitter user and artist @mi_kocoa (Risa), is giving some much needed love to kirie in an absolutely gorgeous way with her intricately carved designs.

Risa's animal and floral designs have gained her quite a following on Twitter, but its her latest text-based piece of kirie that is gaining her the most accolades. Intricately carved, she has taken an excerpt from Kenji Miyazaka's classic Japanese fantasy novel Night on the Galactic Railroad, and turned it into beautiful kirie masterpiece that shows off just how beautiful black and white art can be, as well as the value of something as simple as the value between each character, which beautifully blend into one another. She told Grape Japan that she estimates it took 100 hours or so to complete this charming piece.

Using only a paper cutter and single sheet of paper, Risa has delicately carved out each character in the text with precision and attention good enough to pass as something made digitally. When we asked Risa about this particular piece, she said she focuses on being very careful, especially when cutting out her favorite lines of text. She says that what attracts her to kirie is not just the beauty of the carefully cut lines and shadows, but the fragility of the the art form--feeling that each piece can break within her hands. She feels that with this particular piece, she is resurrecting a writing style from the 1930's in an artistic way.

Here is a look at some of her non-text designs, featuring intricate floral designs, cats, and wolves.