Asiana

Asiana, who also teaches under the name Eileen, is an Amsterdam rope teacher, performer and event organizer and the founder of RopeLounge, which she started in May 2013. RopeLounge’s 2026 class listings say she has taught shibari in Amsterdam for more than 15 years; a 2024 Knot Here listing describes over ten years of teaching in Amsterdam and abroad. Classes are taught in English and Dutch.

Background and approach

RopeLounge’s course listings say she has trained with several Japanese and other teachers, without naming them, and that in 2017 she spent three months in Japan to deepen her knowledge of kinbaku and Japanese culture. Her class descriptions say she is drawn to the aesthetics and the Japanese approach to tying and prefers a more demanding, challenging style of rope. In teaching, they say, she gives weight both to technique, for safety, and to the playful side of rope.

RopeLounge

RopeLounge offers two-hour introductions, beginners’ courses, intermediate levels and advanced workshops, along with private lessons. Topics listed on its Hipsy page include take-downs and hojōjutsu, qi and rope, strappado, and an occasional introduction to semi-suspension. Its four-session beginners’ course for couples covers frictions, futomomo and single-rope ties, ties built on single and double column ties, a simple chest harness, agura, and simple hojōjutsu and hishi patterns, with emphasis on rope handling, advice for the model, partner dynamics and safety. One partner ties and the other is tied for the whole course, and the next level introduces the takate kote.

On the first and third Friday of each month she teaches drop-in classes at Lola Lieven, a neighborhood venue in Amsterdam. Each evening pairs a themed class, such as double column variations, with an hour of free tying; the classes are open to everyone but centered on LGBTQI+ and marginalized people, and switching roles is encouraged. RopeLounge’s Hipsy page also says she works with organizations that offer classes to marginalized groups, including LGBTQI+ and BIPOC communities.

Demonstrations and podcast

With the kinbaku model, performer and blogger Door, Asiana gave a Kinbaku Night demonstration at Knot Here Amsterdam in August 2024, explaining her decisions while tying, followed by questions and a small rope jam. From 2020 to 2022 the two hosted Rope Ramblings, a six-episode podcast of conversations about Japanese rope bondage. Episodes covered semenawa and trust, sadness and emotions in rope, why they tie, Akechi Kanna and different styles of tying, and beauty in kinbaku. The show describes itself as a record of their research and observations rather than as instruction.