Kirigami: Shibari and Kinbaku Teacher
Federico Kirigami has practiced Shibari publicly since 2011. He is a Japanese bondage teacher and performer and, together with Tenshiko, founded School of Rope Milan, where he focuses particularly on technical teaching and the development of Shibari and Kinbaku programs.
His work originates from an interest in traditional forms of Japanese bondage and has developed through continuous practice, teaching, performance, photography, the study of Japanese culture and exposure to different approaches to Kinbaku.
A central part of his research concerns the relationship between technical structure, intention and communication through rope: not simply how to construct a tie, but how to understand its forces, adapt it to the person and use it to create a particular experience.
Kirigami’s Path in Kinbaku
Kirigami began practicing Japanese bondage in 2011. Over the following years, rope progressively became a central part of his work through private sessions, performances, study and teaching.
In 2016, together with Tenshiko, he founded School of Rope Milan, a project dedicated to continuous education in Shibari and Kinbaku. The school follows students through a progressive path beginning with technical foundations and developing toward suspension, force management, semenawa and the interpretation of both traditional and contemporary structures.
From 2018 to 2022, Kirigami was also part of the group of certified Kinbaku Luxuria instructors. He later continued his teaching and research independently through School of Rope, Rope Tales and projects developed at Yugen Studio.
A Path That Began in 2011
2011
First public performance at Black Circus in Milan.
2013
First international performance at Bound in London.
2014
First international workshop at Second Skin in Athens.
2016
Foundation of School of Rope Milan.
2018
First invitation to EURIX, the European Rigger & Model Exchange.
2020
Foundation of Yugen Studio.
2022
Creation of Yugen Studio Magazine, an editorial project dedicated to Kinbaku photography and culture.
2023
Beginning of an ongoing collaboration with Sugiura Norio and first invitation to teach in Argentina.
2024
First multi-week international tours in Australia and Latin America.
2025
Invited by Sugiura Norio to tie for Kinbaku Sajiki, becoming the first rigger not resident in Japan to participate in the project.
2026
Tours, workshops and performances across Europe, Latin America, Asia and Australia.
School of Rope and Teaching Shibari
At School of Rope, Kirigami focuses particularly on the technical structure of teaching and on curriculum development.
The objective is not to teach students to memorize a succession of patterns, but to help them understand the principles that allow a tie to work: direction of force, distribution of tension, body position, movement, weight management and the ability to adapt a structure when the person or situation requires it.
This method turns the ties studied during a lesson into tools for developing broader skills. A structure is therefore not treated as a form that must always be reproduced in exactly the same way, but as the result of technical choices that should be understood and applied consciously.
As students progress, attention gradually moves from correct technical execution toward the ability to use rope in relation to another person: rhythm, intention, quality of movement, communication and the management of different forms of physical and emotional stress that can be created through Kinbaku.
An Approach Rooted in Japanese Kinbaku
Kirigami’s work is strongly influenced by Japanese Kinbaku and by an interest in the cultural context in which the practice developed.
Alongside rope, he has studied different aspects of traditional Japanese culture. In particular, his study of the Japanese tea ceremony has contributed to his reflections on gesture, rhythm, attention and the relationship between form and experience.
This interest does not lead him to treat Kinbaku as an immutable collection of forms to be imitated. On the contrary, an important part of his teaching is learning to understand the context from which techniques and aesthetics originate and developing the tools required to use them consciously within a different culture and sensibility.
International Teaching
Kirigami’s teaching activity extends well beyond Milan.
Over the years he has taught workshops and performed in numerous European cities, and since 2023 his international activity has regularly expanded outside Europe through tours and workshops in Latin America, Asia and Australia.
International workshops are normally taught in English and address both technical subjects and broader themes including the interpretation of Kinbaku, force management, semenawa and the relationship between traditional structures and personal applications of rope.
Working with students from different schools and backgrounds is itself an important part of this process. It requires distinguishing what belongs to a particular pattern from the underlying principles that can be applied across different bodies, styles and ways of tying.
Over the years Kirigami has taught and presented his work in more than 25 countries through workshops, performances and international tours.
Collaboration with Sugiura Norio
Since 2023, Kirigami and Tenshiko have collaborated with Japanese photographer Sugiura Norio on different projects dedicated to Kinbaku.
Their collaboration has included the organization of workshops and international events in Europe and Japan, educational activities and the production and distribution of photographic and editorial material both online and in printed publications.
Working closely with Sugiura’s photography has also offered an opportunity to explore the historical relationship between Kinbaku and photography, a connection that has played an important role in shaping the contemporary imagery of Japanese bondage.
Kirigami and Kinbaku Sajiki
In 2025, Kirigami was invited by Sugiura Norio to tie for Kinbaku Sajiki, the photographic project through which Sugiura documents and publishes his work on Japanese bondage.
Kirigami became the first rigger not resident in Japan to receive this invitation.
The experience represented an important point in his development, bringing the work he had built over many years in Europe into direct contact with one of the historically significant photographic contexts for the representation of Kinbaku in Japan.
Performance, Photography and Editorial Projects
Alongside teaching, Kirigami continues to work in performance and photography.
Performances, primarily together with Tenshiko, have been one of the environments in which he has developed and tested the relationship between technique, rhythm, stage presence and communication through rope.
Over the years, this work has brought them to perform throughout Italy and internationally and to share events and stages with different figures from the international Kinbaku scene.
Among significant moments were performances alongside Hajime Kinoko in Milan and Naka Akira in Osaka.
Photography is another important part of his work. Projects produced at Yugen Studio include photographic sessions, collaborations with international artists and models, and editorial projects dedicated to documenting contemporary Kinbaku.
One of his most significant ongoing collaborations is with Akane, an internationally recognized Japanese Kinbaku model who has worked with leading figures of the Japanese scene including Naka Akira, Yukimura Haruki and Sugiura Norio.
Since 2023, Kirigami and Akane have worked together on numerous photographic sessions, performances and video projects, developing work characterized by strong expressive intensity and a continuous dialogue between photography, rope and performance.
Another important collaboration is with Lala, performer, body artist and contortionist. Her extensive physical training has allowed them to develop highly acrobatic performances and photographic projects, exploring extreme positions, complex suspensions and a use of rope closely connected to movement and the expressive possibilities of the body.
Part of this work is published through Yugen Studio Magazine, a publication dedicated to photography, culture and different interpretations of Japanese bondage.
Working with Tenshiko
A large part of Kirigami’s development has taken place together with Tenshiko, with whom he shares teaching, performance and numerous international projects.
Kirigami and Tenshiko have developed much of the School of Rope teaching approach together through years of shared practice, teaching and research.
Both work on technique, relationship, body perception and communication through rope, while approaching these subjects from different personal perspectives.
The continuous exchange between their viewpoints has helped make their teaching richer and more flexible, without turning it into a method that necessarily depends on the presence of both teachers.
This ongoing dialogue between the person tying and the person being tied influences the courses they teach as much as the way they develop performances, sessions and new study programs.
Research and Transmission of Kinbaku
For Kirigami, teaching Kinbaku is not simply the transmission of a technique.
A fundamental part of learning is developing the ability to distinguish a form from the principles that generate it and understanding why a particular technical choice creates a particular result in the body and in the relationship between people.
For this reason, the School of Rope approach combines practice, observation, experimentation and cultural study.
Technique remains essential, but progressively becomes a tool through which students can develop intention, adaptability and their own conscious way of using rope.
Kirigami at School of Rope Milan
Kirigami teaches regularly at Yugen Studio in Milan, home of School of Rope, and also participates in Rope Tales workshops and international tours.
To learn more about Tenshiko, the other professionals involved in the school and our international collaborations, visit our Shibari and Kinbaku Teachers page.
