Frequently Asked Questions

• What Makes Fortuna Pearl Special

  A pearl-like sheen and a silky touch

  A PP band born for handmade pieces — bags, baskets, and beyond. It stays supple even in the early-winter chill, and any curl from the roll soon settles into your hands. It sheds no thread-like fibres and almost never splits lengthwise, so you're free to shape it into whatever your imagination calls for.

  ※ With the 6 mm width, too much force can stretch or snap the band, so ease your grip a little.

• Colour Variations

  53 colours, each kept true to the real thing

  Every colour name was chosen one by one, comparing the actual band against Japan's traditional colour names. How a colour looks can shift with your own perception, your lighting, and your device — monitor or smartphone. To bring you as close as possible to the real shade, we put extra care into image tuning during our 2023–2024 renewal.

• How It Differs from Ordinary PP Band

  The everyday PP band sold for packaging

  The ordinary PP band you'll find at hardware stores was made as packaging material — easy to get and inexpensive, which is its main appeal. But the colour range is limited, the width is mostly 15 mm with few alternatives, and the material is fairly stiff, so long weaving sessions can tire your hands. Apply too much force and it tends to split lengthwise. It was built for bundling and binding, not for handcraft: cheap and convenient, yet a little tricky to work with when making pieces.

• Material & Care

  100% polypropylene — for worry-free use

  This product is made of 100% polypropylene. A trace amount of other substances may, however, be present. If you have allergies or have experienced similar reactions before, please refrain from purchasing. As for colour transfer, none has been observed even after nine years of normal use, so you can weave with confidence. The one exception is "Fukamidori / 001F-*045", which can occasionally leave a faint yellowish mark on the hands, a little like machine oil. We can't say for certain whether the colour is bleeding, but it washes off easily with water or a dry wipe.

• Why three widths — 21, 15 and 6 mm?

  The three widths we carry, and the story behind them

  The PP band we carry comes in three widths: 21 mm, 15 mm and 6 mm. The 21 mm is one of our original base widths; 15 mm is the most common width in Japan; and 6 mm is the width that arises while creating 15 mm from the 21 mm band. In practice, we split the 21 mm band using a special method to produce both the 15 mm and 6 mm widths. The 15 mm is delivered at the width it becomes once split, while the 6 mm can vary between roughly 5–8 mm depending on the condition of the original 21 mm band. For reference, the original widths of the Fortuna Pearl brand are just two: 21 mm and 12 mm. The 21 mm is currently available, while the 12 mm is not yet scheduled to arrive.

• About Our Measurements

  The "measured" 27 m length, and natural variation in hand-wound rolls

  The stated length of 27 m is an actual measured value. We measure with a handheld tape measure made by Tokyo Nihos, whose instrument error stays within 0.24%. As the work is done by eye and by hand, however, please note that a difference of a few centimetres can occur. Thickness also varies slightly with the material and colour of each band. Because every roll is wound by hand, the finished shape (up to about 16 cm in diameter) will differ a little from roll to roll.