{"id":2181,"date":"2025-07-09T19:41:40","date_gmt":"2025-07-09T19:41:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/koumanawa.com\/?page_id=2181"},"modified":"2025-08-01T08:07:28","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T07:07:28","slug":"report-april-2025","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/koumanawa.com\/en\/report-april-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Report April 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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Report April 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greetings from Japan, where we\u2019re having a series of business meetings: distribution, B2B customers, engineering, logistics, customs brokerage, and a trip to the Mokur\u014d wax factory. Obviously, I\u2019ll be visiting certain clubs and bars too, hooking up with old friends, and I headlined Osaka\u2019s most prestigious SM & Fetish Bar ARCADIA, performing an erotic Kinbaku show to a packed audience. Now on to Mitsu and Titty Twister Kabukich\u014d, and then Black Heart Ginza to perform on Lady\u2018s Day at Shibari Knight, following in the footsteps of Matsui Kenji and Akechi Denki.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve met old friends NuitdeTokyo, Otonawa, Aotsuki and Kazami Ranki, and will be seeing Shigonawabingo, Kitagawa and Tesshin, etc. Tadaima! I\u2019m at home, where my enjoyment of Kinbaku differs so much from a sense of alienation in the west where what is believed to be Japanese is at odds with realities here. Eg. discussing with Aotsuki-san, an influential veteran of the scene, a couple of months ago on a German forum to the question, Where does Shibari come from? 69% of respondents voted Hoj\u014djutsu, an old Japanese martial art, he asked how things got so completely twisted from the truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over 16 years of development we\u2019ve visited most, if not all Japan\u2019s natural fibre rope manufacturing corporations. We\u2019ve been to many jute yarn mills in Bengal, and maintain contact with the Japan External Trade Organization, institutes, relevant universities and other bodies. As we\u2019ve gone further and deeper into the trade we\u2019ve made discoveries, sometimes deeply concerning, identified risks, and learned the supply chains, the scams and the pitfalls. Clearly, we have a vested interest, but in this new world neither social nor truthful, in order to retain integrity, it\u2019s best to stick to the facts. In the long run they\u2019ll be the only solid ground on which to stand. Those who don\u2019t, will risk ridicule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fact: jute for cordage has never grown in Japan. The climate conditions do not exist. Hemp was once cultivated in the T\u014dhoku and Kant\u014d regions, but banned by the Supreme Command for the Allied Powers because of its unfortunate shared Kanji with cannabis. Without reintroduction, stocks waned, and it was Toshiyuki Suma and Chimuo Nureki who started using jute rope for Shibari during the 1980s, stocked by agricultural-industrial rope outlets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For economical logistical reasons, all yarn is manufactured close to the jute growing region in Bengal. Last exports of raw jute fibre for spinning were transported to Dundee, Scotland on sailing ships. Now, unlike democracies where governments may revolve every few years, Xi Jinping\u2019s People\u2019s Republic of China has a plan to 2049 – the Chinese Dream. From the mistaken shift of western business using cheap labour in the 1990s, they\u2019ve learned, copied, improved, and undercut. Work conditions can be wholly unethical, e.g. it\u2019s alleged Ramie is produced by Uighur slave labour. The goal is simple – to force foreign manufacturing out of business by applying liberal export state subsidies. Then take over the markets. They don\u2019t only do this with vehicles, electronics, etc. They also do this with rope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A popular JBO jute rope widely used in the west, and obtained from general high street stores in Japan is actually manufactured in Jiangsu Province, China using cheap labour in questionable conditions. Because it\u2019s subsidised by the PRC for export, it\u2019s galling to note resellers proclaiming it as \u2018Traditional Japanese\u2019, or \u2018Made in Japan\u2019 just because their unwitting hero may be using it. If you want to scrutinize for yourself, ask for the Mamefuda product identification label, and evidence of where it\u2019s actually being produced. There you\u2019ll find the truth maybe you\u2019re assisting the demise of real Japanese-produced rope. Even if those Japanese corporations are for economical logistical reasons manufacturing at their managed and owned facilities in Bengal, where jute specific for cordage is grown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Mamefuda production label<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Report April 2025 Greetings from Japan, where we\u2019re having a series of business meetings: distribution, B2B customers, engineering, logistics, customs brokerage, and a trip to the Mokur\u014d wax factory. Obviously, I\u2019ll be visiting certain clubs and bars too, hooking up with old friends, and I headlined Osaka\u2019s most prestigious SM & Fetish Bar ARCADIA, performing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"Jute and Japan","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2181","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/koumanawa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/koumanawa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/koumanawa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koumanawa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koumanawa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2181"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/koumanawa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2181\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/koumanawa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}