Shoshinsha
Chicago-based online store selling handmade jute, hemp and bamboo shibari rope, rope kits and accessories. It says its jute comes from Bangladesh and its rope is finished by artisan riggers.
Shoshinsha is a Chicago rope maker and online shop that sells natural-fiber rope and hardware for shibari. Its about page dates the company to 2017 and builds its philosophy around shoshin (初心), which it explains as a mindset of humility and returning to one’s original intention. Its stated mission is to make rigger-made rope available to practitioners worldwide.
According to the shop, each rope is handmade from raw fiber to finished product under the motto “One Rope, One Master”, through eight stages: removing defects, singeing, brushing, softening, disinfecting, conditioning, waxing and finishing the ends. The company says it works with eleven artisan workshops, that every rope maker is also a rigger, and that its ropes were refined through use by more than 200 practitioners. It sources jute from producers in Bangladesh and hemp from regional growers.
The catalog covers single jute ropes in natural and dyed colors, including an 8 mm version, hemp rope, bamboo-fiber rope, starter-to-advanced rope kits, suspension rings and other rings, a rope conditioner, safety shears, carabiners, swivels and storage bags. Custom colors, lengths and thicknesses are made to order. The shop ships worldwide, offers wholesale to studios and retailers and bespoke rope design, and says it has appeared at the ROPECRAFT convention and that professional performers use its rope.