Japanese words for Rope

Asanawa 麻縄

Any rope made from a bast fiber this includes Hemp, Jute, and cotton rope. It has sometimes been mistranslated as either Hemp or Jute, which has been the source of some confusion. 

For example if you look at the icihikou website  using auto translate it will inform you that the seller is offering Hemp rope made from 100% high quality jute from Bangladesh! In reality the website says they are selling asanawa made from Jute.

Aranawa 荒縄

lit. rough rope, but mostly used to refer to rope made from straw.

Hayanawa 早縄

This refers to both the rope that is used and the technique of 'fast capture' with a rope as practiced within hojojutsu. This is often a thin rope with a spliced loop at the end.

Kaginawa 鈎縄

A thin ope used for fast capture within hojojutsu  that terminates with a hook.

Koshinawa 小綱

translates as 'small rope' and is normally used to refer to ropes that are 2-4mm in diamater used for finger, toe, or male genital ties.

Nawa 縄

This word means rope and is used as a descriptor in many rope patterns.

 

Rōpu ロープ -

This is the English word rope represented by Japanese Katakana an alphabet used for non native Japanese words. 

Shimanaw しめ縄

Shima means close, or enclosing. Shimanawa is rope that is used to cordon off consecrated areas within the Shinto religion and as a talisman against evil.  Often rice straw rope is used for this purpose.

Waranawa 藁縄 

Rope made from straw.

 

 

Do you mean Shibari?

Often when people ask What the Japanese name for Rope is, the word that they are looking for is Shibari which means 'to tie'. The word Shibari can be used to refer to tying a parcel, or a person. The word Shibari is however commonly used in the kink community in Japan and the West to refer to a style of rope bondage which originated in Japan. 

What type of rope is used in Japan for Shibari?

In the early days of Shibari a number of the most famous and influential riggers used cotton rope for long static suspensions. Cotton rope can break if it receives a sudden shock or drop and so is now mostly avoided, with Japanese riggers now most commonly using either Jute or Hemp rope. 

A lot of the rope used in Japan for shibari is not specifically made for shibari and has high content of a chemical called JBO which is not good for the skin (and fumes from it can be deadly if it's heated).  Some people argue that using something made specifically for bondage is too clean - too proper, and they prefer to use something dirty and industrial.  This means you will often see films of Japanese riggers using very oiled dark coloured rope.  

Hajime Kinoko  has broken the mould using a wide range of different ropes including synthetic UV reactive ropes.

Bamboo rope is now becoming increasingly popular for bedroom bondage around the world, and for pure luxury some people are turning to silk rope! 

So  there are many different types of rope used in Japan - and I have a number of Japanese customers!