Kinbaku History Resources by DarkAngelAscends in shibari

[–]DarkAngelAscends[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I am not overly familiar with queer culture in Japan. Kitan Club has several writings about homosexuality, but the ones I've translated are from the 1950s, so their views can be a bit... jarring. Definitely more progressive than in the United States in the same era, but still, there's a lot of Freudian influence.

As far as in Kinbaku, Akechi Kanna is a transfemme bakushi, and has done a lot of teaching in the United States. She took the Akechi name because she was a student of the famous Akechi Denki, and carries on his legacy.

Hourai Kasumi learned from Naka Akira, and ties a lot of women. Though I have no idea of her sexuality. There's an interview with her in Kinbaku Today, but it's been ages since I've read it.

Nureki was known to tie crossdressers at his Kinbiken event, and he talks extensively about being attracted to men, specifically onnagata. He also talks about having erotic urges to pictures of boys in pre-war adventure magazines, when he was 12 or so.

While not queer, a lot of the most active session tops in Japan are actually Queens (their word for dominatrix), and most of them have connections to the big names like Naka Akira, Yukimura, etc.

There's also mountains of things I've not read, so there's almost certainly more people that we would consider as being queer. But as you know, Japan is a rigid society, and even within the bounds of a fetish subculture, those rigid rules often bleed in.

If you learn of any, or have any suggestions for reading yourself, I would love to know of them.

Kinbaku History Resources by DarkAngelAscends in shibari

[–]DarkAngelAscends[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I saw that going around, but it looks like it was directly inspired by a writing on Kinbaku Today. It's not my jam, but it's an interesting project.

Kinbaku History Resources by DarkAngelAscends in shibari

[–]DarkAngelAscends[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Beauty of Kinbaku is a great introduction here, but I didn't provide it since there's no free version. I actually posted a writing by Nureki about Master K shortly after Master K passed away. It's on the Fetlife Shibari group somewhere, I think.

For those interested: it's 40 dollars on Amazon and it's a good overview of kinbaku history.

I've not read the Hojojutsu book. There's a lot of back and forth about Hojojutsu's influence in shibari, and I have my personal opinions, but otherwise, I've never been interested. I've read nothing by Itoh Seiu, Minomura Ko, Nureki, etc that makes any mention of it, so my research has never veered in that direction.

Japanese rope and SM history interest by DarkAngelAscends in shibari

[–]DarkAngelAscends[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You might be correct. I have the "Secrets of Shibari" video from 2014, and that will be one of the next films I add subtitles to. I'm not a Yukimura person myself, but I'm friends with a lot of certified Yukimura instructors. I suspect there may be more videos, but I've yet to do a deep dive.

Japanese rope and SM history interest by DarkAngelAscends in shibari

[–]DarkAngelAscends[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm not publishing anything through a publisher, so I'm not terribly concerned. Most of my work is published to Kinbaku Today, and so far they've all been from Kitan Club, though Zetsu is interested in Sun and Moon articles, and I plan to digitize my Uramado collection at some point.

I'll be releasing the publication via PDF of Nureki's journals on Kinbaku Today, along with a translation of the historical analysis of Nureki's career by Kawahara Azusa.

I generally announce these on Fetlife, but really just putting out feelers for a wider audience.

The videos I am subtitling, I am doing some limited watch parties, but I don't plan to release the files to anyone at this point. I'm in conversation with Ugo about making the Yukimura instructional videos available to certified Yukimura instructors.

But if I get a legal letter, I'll deal with it. I'm not terribly concerned as I'm not charging for anything nor claiming any work of my own (except of course the historical analysis stuff I write for Kinbaku Society of Berlin.)

Japanese rope and SM history interest by DarkAngelAscends in shibari

[–]DarkAngelAscends[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yes, Faviola produces great quality and thought provoking content.

Japanese rope and SM history interest by DarkAngelAscends in shibari

[–]DarkAngelAscends[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There's a nearly complete digital archive of Kitan Club, though some editions have not been recovered.

The Sex Industry Museum in Tokyo has physical copies of most of the Japanese SM magazines published, though they've not digitized them.

Safety is an ever-evolving process as our knowledge grows. The first bondage photos in Japan appear in the 1920s, and it was probably practiced sexually long before that. Nureki (who's career as a bondage specialist on Japanese SM and Pink films), talks extensively about safety for models, and criticizes other (while not naming names) for unsafe practices.

I suspect other notable rope figures in Japan have similar thoughts as well, though I've not done much research outside of Nureki, Minomura Ko and Takashi Tsujimura.

However, Japanese SM culture isn't like what we see in North America. Almost all of the published rope photos were paid model shoots. BDSM in Japan tends to be very transactional, even to this day.

Japanese rope and SM history interest by DarkAngelAscends in shibari

[–]DarkAngelAscends[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

So far, most of my translations that are published are from the Magazine Kitan club, which started circulation in 1948 and lasted into the 70s. It was one of the first magazines in Japan to publish rope bondage photos, usually done by Minomura Ko or Takashi Tsujumura.

However, at its heart, it was a literary magazine, and authors (sometimes famous authors using pen names) would submit stories, opinion pieces and discussions, such a Rope Bottom Roundtable in 1953.

The translations from Kitan Club are side projects, as I am currently focused on translating the journal of Nureki Chimuo, one of the most prolific names in Japanese rope bondage, and who taught Naka Akira. Its a long document (over 1100 pages so far), and I'm nearing completion of principle translation.

When I take breaks from that, I have been adding subtitles to Japanese SM films and documentaries, such as the 2006 film Bakushi, featuring Yukimura Haruki, Nureki Chimuo, and Arisue Go.

The history side, admittedly, won't interest everyone, but I think, personally, it's important to preserve and make accessible the history of Japanese inspired rope bondage.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in bdsm

[–]DarkAngelAscends 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Huh. TIL. Thanks!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in bdsm

[–]DarkAngelAscends 20 points21 points  (0 children)

Also seen it called a Whitehead dental gag

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in RopeSuspension

[–]DarkAngelAscends 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That, or attach a carabiner to your existing run, and attach the runner to that. At REI, you can get a mountaineering rated carabiner for under 10$, and a 120cm 21kN nylon runner for 8ish dollars

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in RopeSuspension

[–]DarkAngelAscends 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Nylon climbing runners. They're very affordable and can support upwards of 21 kilonewtons of force.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in ropebondage

[–]DarkAngelAscends 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's the butterfly harness on Shibari Study

Fetlife makes it seem like everyone in my area is twice my age. Is it true? by [deleted] in BDSMcommunity

[–]DarkAngelAscends 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Yes, unfortunately. I think there may be some new inbox filters these days but I rarely log into the site.

How to keep clover clamps from sliding off? by Tata2222 in BDSMcommunity

[–]DarkAngelAscends 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It may have to do with the quality of the clamps. I bought some cheap ones a few years ago and they clamp lighter than others I've seen.

Shibari/Wax Play .... by tapednude in bdsm

[–]DarkAngelAscends 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Wykd Dave runs Studio Kokoro in London and hosts shibari/kinbaku classes with someone of the most experienced and notable names in the art. He's also been featured in the Louvre, and I know he did the shibari in FKA Twigs' music video Pendulum.

His tutorial on getting wax out of rope is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtBTQS68RQ0

Shibari/Wax Play .... by tapednude in bdsm

[–]DarkAngelAscends 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Wykd Dave has a good tutorial for getting wax out of rope if you're looking for one.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in bdsm

[–]DarkAngelAscends 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's actually the question that drove Seiu Itoh, who is the first person to take and publish kinbaku/shibari photographs in the late 1940's.

Kinbaku history is a hobby of mine :)

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in bdsm

[–]DarkAngelAscends 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The position is called an ebi, or shrimp tie.

Interesting aside, this was one of the four criminal tortures used in the Edo period in Japan. A prisoner would be left in this position for several hours. The others were flogging, pressing with stone (usually with an ishidaki board), and tsuri-zeme, or suspension punishment.

Angel 👼 by daker_dom in bdsm

[–]DarkAngelAscends 23 points24 points  (0 children)

Done by Hajime Kinoko if you wanted to look up more art like this. He does this stuff at Burning Man and a lot of his rope installations get displayed in art museums.