Shinoga Studio didn't survive its first real deadline

Before Kaisei, there was Shinoga.

I started it with a cofounder — the plan was the same shape as Kaisei's: a small studio, a clear point of view, real client work. It held together fine while it was still mostly conversation: naming, positioning, the parts of starting something that feel like progress but don't yet require anyone to show up.

Then work actually showed up. A real client, a real deadline, real accountability. My cofounder disappeared — not a disagreement, not a falling-out, just an absence that kept getting longer until it was permanent. No further explanation ever arrived.

I shut Shinoga down rather than try to keep it upright alone under someone else's name. There wasn't a version of continuing that felt honest.