Marta Tenshiko is a Shibari and Kinbaku teacher, rope bottom, model and performer. In 2016, together with Kirigami, she founded School of Rope Milan, contributing to the development of its programs and teaching approach.
Rope Tales is the project of Federico Kirigami and Marta Tenshiko. It brings together their research, performances, photography and cultural work around Japanese bondage. Within this shared practice, Tenshiko brings her own perspective on the body, perception and communication through rope, developed through her experience as a rope bottom, artist and teacher.
Federico Kirigami and Marta Tenshiko have been married since 6 February 2023.
Her work with rope is connected to a broader background in the body and visual representation. She is a sex educator, has a background in dance and theatre and studied Fine Arts in Bologna and Milan. These experiences influence the way she approaches Kinbaku, both from the perspective of the person being tied and through questions of body representation, sexuality and aesthetics.
Over the years, she has worked in sessions, performances, photographic shoots and video productions in Italy and internationally, bringing this experience into her teaching.
Tenshiko’s Path in Shibari
Tenshiko’s encounter with Shibari initially led her to explore rope through its direct experience on the body.
Over time, this practice expanded into performance, photography and eventually teaching. In 2016, together with Kirigami, she founded School of Rope Milan, a project dedicated to continuous education in Shibari and Kinbaku.
In the following years, the school’s work developed alongside an increasingly international activity, with workshops, performances and projects first throughout Europe and later in Latin America, Asia and Australia.
Some Milestones
2016
Foundation of School of Rope Milan together with Kirigami.
2022
Creation of Yugen Studio Magazine, an editorial project dedicated to Kinbaku photography and culture.
2023
Beginning of an ongoing collaboration with Japanese photographer Sugiura Norio and expansion of international activities beyond Europe.
2024
First multi-week international tours in Australia and Latin America.
2026
Workshops, performances and projects across Europe, Latin America, Asia and Australia.
Experience as a Rope Bottom
Many years spent in rope have allowed Tenshiko to develop a particularly detailed understanding of the sensations and transformations that a tie can produce in the body.
Tension, compression, shifts in weight, losing and recovering balance, breathing and remaining in a position are observed not simply as consequences of technique, but as elements of the experience constructed through rope.
This perspective is particularly valuable in teaching. It allows a structure to be analyzed through what happens on the other side of the rope and shows how apparently small technical changes can significantly alter the experience of the person being tied.
Bottoming as a conscious practice
The person being tied helps shape a session through their body, presence and communication. Bottoming includes observing sensations, recognising personal limits and giving clear feedback to the person tying. Tenshiko’s experience brings these aspects into the understanding of a tie, alongside its form and execution.
A similar position may be experienced differently by different people, or by the same person at different times. Describing where pressure is felt, how support changes or which movements remain possible makes this exchange more concrete. The tied person’s perception becomes a source of knowledge for both partners, without turning one individual’s experience into a rule for every body.
Body, Sexuality and Education
Tenshiko’s training as a sex educator influences another important part of her work: communication, desire, personal boundaries and the ability to recognize what is happening during an intense physical interaction.
Within Kinbaku, these aspects are not treated as separate from technique. A tie may involve vulnerability, control, exposure, pain, eroticism or intimacy, and the ability to understand and communicate these experiences becomes part of how rope is used.
This approach also forms part of the teaching at School of Rope, particularly when students begin to move beyond technical exercises and use structures to create personal experiences.
From this perspective, consent and communication are part of the whole experience. Expressing a desire, asking for a change or stopping a session are also choices available to the person being tied. Attention to the body and perception helps people put what they feel into words and distinguish their initial expectations from the experience they are having.
Art, Aesthetics and the Representation of the Body
Tenshiko’s exploration of Kinbaku aesthetics is also connected to her artistic education at the Academies of Fine Arts in Bologna and Milan, as well as to her earlier experience in dance and theatre.
Photography, composition, gesture, body position and the relationship with space therefore form part of the way she reads a Shibari image.
As a model, this also means considering how the body is represented: not simply the formal beauty of a position, but the relationship between vulnerability, eroticism, tension, expression and the gaze of the viewer.
This research continues through photographic and video productions created over the years at Yugen Studio and through editorial projects connected to Yugen Studio Magazine.
Model and Performer
Photography and performance have remained a continuous part of Tenshiko’s development.
Over the years, she has participated as a model in numerous shoots and productions dedicated to Kinbaku and has performed both in Italy and internationally, primarily together with Kirigami.
Working in front of a camera differs from simply experiencing rope. It requires awareness of the image, the ability to use expression and posture, and an understanding of the relationship between body, rope, light and the photographer’s point of view.
Performance similarly introduces rhythm, stage presence and a relationship with the audience, elements also connected to her background in dance and theatre.
School of Rope and Teaching
Tenshiko teaches regularly at School of Rope Milan and develops its programs together with Kirigami.
Teaching begins from precise technical foundations, but progressively encourages students to observe how a structure interacts with different bodies and how it can be modified according to intention, movement and the response of the person being tied.
The exchange between Kirigami’s and Tenshiko’s experiences has contributed over the years to the development of the school’s teaching approach without creating a rigid separation between their roles.
Both teach technique, relationship and the conscious use of rope, while approaching these subjects from different experiences and personal perspectives.
From bodily experience to teaching
One of Tenshiko’s specific contributions is connecting what can be seen from the outside with what is felt in rope. In teaching, feedback from the person being tied helps explain the effect of a technical choice: how a position changes, where tension is concentrated and how movement changes the interaction.
This exchange involves both partners. For the person tying, it develops observation and the ability to adapt; for the person being tied, it offers an opportunity to refine body awareness and communicate sensations. Marta’s contribution to the school therefore includes developing its teaching approach and sharing knowledge gained through practice, performance and work with images.
Collaborations and International Work
Since 2023, Tenshiko and Kirigami have collaborated with Japanese photographer Sugiura Norio on projects involving photography and Kinbaku between Europe and Japan.
Their collaboration includes educational activities, photographic and editorial productions and the organization of international projects connecting the European and Japanese Kinbaku scenes.
At the same time, Tenshiko has participated in workshops, performances and productions in numerous countries as part of the international tours of School of Rope and Rope Tales.
Yugen Studio Magazine and editorial research
Created in 2022, Yugen Studio Magazine is an independent cultural and publishing project dedicated to Kinbaku photography and culture. Its publications provide a space where work with the body and rope meets image-making and different artistic perspectives.
Tenshiko’s contribution to this work brings together her education in visual arts, her experience as a model and her exploration of how the body is represented. Her practice in rope also becomes a way of considering images: gesture, expression and how a lived relationship is conveyed to a viewer.
Rope Tales, School of Rope and Yugen Studio
Marta’s work develops through three connected projects with distinct roles. Rope Tales presents the identity and research of Federico Kirigami and Marta Tenshiko through culture, photography and performance. School of Rope is the project dedicated to teaching Shibari and Kinbaku. Yugen Studio is the venue in Milan that hosts classes, events, guest artists and productions, and is home to the publications and shop.
Tenshiko at School of Rope Milan
Tenshiko teaches at Yugen Studio in Milan, home of School of Rope, and participates in the school’s workshops, performances and international projects.
To learn more about Kirigami and the other professionals involved, visit our Shibari and Kinbaku Teachers page.
For information about programs, levels and participation, visit the page dedicated to the Shibari and Kinbaku courses offered by School of Rope Milan.
