Studio Kokoro was initially an idea for a photographic studio, but it has evolved since its opening in February 2019 to be much more than that. It has always been a dream we never thought would become reality to have our own space to do rope and shoot in a room bigger than 4 tatami mats. Upon discovering the venue we knew it was meant to be and we had to make a good try at making it happen. Before we knew it we had a set of keys in our hands and were working around the clock for our opening.

The aim at Kokoro has significantly evolved and today would say the purpose of the studio is to cultivate a space for people to meet who are interested and enthusiastic about rope bondage. To provide a space for sharing and development of skill, knowledge and confidence regardless of rope style, level or identification. We are particularly passionate about Japanese style rope bondage but actively include those of all styles both in the space and online. We have a growing group of people enthusiastic about nylon rope.

We had only just begun to grow our community when we had to close our doors in March 2020 soon after our first birthday and made a shift to online concept classes with quality educators from all over the world. During this time, we feel proud to have developed strong connections with the wider rope world as well as strengthening connections in our local rope scene.

As we open our doors in June 2021, we again make a shift, this time towards a blended approach to education at the studio, offering both the physical space for learning but also virtual concept classes that we feel appropriate for online teaching. This way we can continue to offer high quality education to those areas in the world that do not have a local space or access to rope education, and support our own Kokoro community.