Report June 2026

Where does your rope come from? What application is it made for? What is contained within it?

We are transparent, supplying the adult market and providing engineering support to our manufacturing partner. This involved development of KI yarn for shibari applications, and the SHIZEN product produced from it.

Our partner is a legacy corporation based in Tochigi, Japan with over 100 employees. They haven’t produced rope there for decades. There are only offices and warehousing for weekly containers arriving via Port of Tokyo. This is due to location of raw material growing areas and labour costs too high in Japan to be economically viable. Manila is produced in Thailand, coir in Sri Lanka, and jute, sisal, plus polymer cordage in Bangladesh.

Our Tossa jute comes from farm collectives in the optimum growing area, Faridpur. Our self-built, state-of-the-art jute yarn mill in Sitakund and two rope factories in Chattogram employ 900, overseen by the permanently resident president’s younger brother with ISO 9001 quality management.

No other shibari asanawa supplier has control of the entire chain from seeds to market. So, when you read statements such as Made or Produced in Japan we strongly advise you demand solid evidence. Industrial agri/horticultural jute ropes stocked by high street stores in Japan either procure from our production, or via outsourced supply in Jiangsu Province, China.

In Europe, other jute rope comes via agents in India, or from small order available, inappropriate yarns procured in Belgium and manufactured to rope in Germany. How do we know? For the former, the distributor pitches to us on a regular basis, and I set up production from the latter in 2017 before recognising their yarn procurement was highly unreliable, and rope was produced on modern machinery too aggressive for jute.

The market should be highly wary of distortion, fabrication and misstatements. Sadly, our modern digital world conveniently permits subterfuge. Artificial is an antonym of real. Information pollution increasingly spirals. Facts become difficult to discern. Eg. a seemingly expert blog has fabricated my original 2014 brand name into a historical art and philosophy, emphasising spirituality, emotional connection and aesthetic harmony, but without any basis on truth.

At KOUMANAWA we strive for integrity and honesty, providing accurate and useful factual information on product, developments and market conditions. We deal direct with our customers, avoiding payment service providers, their unrealistic charges and propensity to fund political extremism with their profits. We use a discounted shipping services provider to ensure best pricing for bulky products and use zero plastics in our packaging. We are users of the product, and demand only the best.

Regarding this season’s jute crop, Tossa cultivation is progressing steadily. 60% of 87,000 hectares in the prime Faridpur District has been aided by the Bangladeshi government’s distribution of improved seed varieties. However, limited fuel supply is severely disrupting irrigation management, and frequent power outages leave farmers increasingly reliant on rainfall which may impact overall jute production, continuing to push up prices.

Additionally, fuel price fluctuations generated by the Iran conflict are also impacting shipping. Sea freight quotes are difficult to obtain until 7 days before collection. At the same time, couriers are increasing fuel surcharges.

We are hearing first reports of the predicted wave effect caused by jute demand running 150% above supply and difficult to source. Having anticipated and paid the going rate for premium grade raw material our internal yarn mill is adequately stocked beyond 2026 crop availability from September.