About SAORI Global

Mission

SAORI Global started as the International Division of Sakaiseikisangyo Co. Ltd., the original manufacturer of SAORI looms since 1969. In March 2023, SAORI Global transformed from a division to a company, aiming to strengthen the support dedicated to nurturing the long-lasting SAORI practices continued among the weavers all around the world.

As one of SAORI organizations continued by the Jo family, SAORI Global is based at SAORINOMORI, the manufacturing and SAORI studio headquarters located in Izumi, Osaka. Having begun as a small organization made of the two members from the Jo family, SAORI Global works very closely with everyone on the team at Sakaiseikisangyo Co., Ltd. and the enthusiastic weavers among the SAORI community in and beyond Japan. Our mission, as a company and the members of the founder’s family and the community, is to inspire individuals all over the world to discover, nurture and respect the endless, creative potential that lives within and connects us all. We envision an open and harmonious world, in which we may all exist, think and create differently, together.

We believe we can realize this vision by continuing the legacy of Misao Jo and the passion and integrity with which she and those working closely with her developed the movement and practice of SAORI. And so, we offer tools and resources that empower all individuals to discover their natural abilities to create, and we support facilitators and spaces dedicated to cultivating long-lasting practices of SAORI and sustaining active innovation and collaboration within communities.

At its core and within the global community it aims to support, SAORI Global values imagination, courage, openness, generosity and sincerity. We believe that SAORI has a uniquely accessible and expansive capacity to motivate individuals all around the world to challenge what they believe is possible and acceptable and to transform the way they relate to themselves and others.

Our Company and Team

SAORI Global LLC

Naoto Jo (Chief Executive Officer)
Akiko Jo (Chief Operating Officer)

Company History and Facilities

SAORI Global started as the International Division of Sakaiseikisangyo Co. Ltd., the original manufacturer of SAORI looms since 1969. In March 2023, SAORI Global transformed from a division to a company, aiming to strengthen the support dedicated to nurturing the long-lasting SAORI practices continued among the weavers all around the world.

Sakaiseikisangyo Co., Ltd. was founded in 1947 by Riichiro Jo, the husband of SAORI’s founder Misao Jo, and has been manufacturing SAORI looms and products since 1969. The company is still continued today by the Jo family, with its manufacturing and studio headquarters at SAORINOMORI (meaning ‘SAORI forest’) in Izumi, Osaka. It was in this area that Misao Jo first started SAORI.

For more than 50 years, the Jo family has worked hard to maintain the ease of use, accessibility and quality of all SAORI looms and weaving accessories to best support the long-lasting practices of SAORI by individuals and communities in Japan and all around the world. All SAORI products are made to last, designed and crafted with expertise, high-quality materials, and the utmost care in collaboration with other local, family-owned businesses in Japan and directly within the manufacturing facility at SAORINOMORI in Izumi.

Sakaiseikisangyo also welcomes everyone to experience and learn deeply about SAORI in its spacious, light-filled studio space at SAORINOMORI in Izumi, Osaka. With views on all sides of surrounding nature and cityscape, the company offers classes, hosts special events, and showcases works made by SAORI Weavers from all over Japan year-round. The studio aims to provide a relaxed and inspiring space for people to create together and generously share and learn from one another.

Staff

Having begun as a small organization made of the two members from the Jo family, SAORI Global works very closely with everyone on the team at Sakaiseikisangyo Co., Ltd. and the enthusiastic weavers among the SAORI community in and beyond Japan.

Sakaiseikisangyo Co., Ltd. is fortunate to currently have a team of fifteen at its headquarters in Izumi, dedicated and hard-working staff members. Special thanks also extend to the entire community of previous staff members, advocates, facilitators and all weavers within the SAORI community throughout Japan and all over the world. SAORI as a global movement would not be what it is today without all of the past and continued contributions and efforts made by everyone within the community as a whole.