The Beauty of Kinbaku
Or everything you always wanted to know about Japanese erotic bondage when you suddenly realized that you didn't speak Japanese
Meetings With Remarkable Men
A Trip to Japan - Meetings with Remarkable Men # 2 a -
A surprise from Nureki Chimuo
by Master "K"
Greetings!
As I was about to post my third installment in this series (a report on my meeting with the extraordinary bakushi Yukimura Haruki), something rather remarkable happened. I received word that Nureki Chimuo sensei, the subject of my last post, had written an article on his blog pages discussing my visit to the photo shoot he did for Mania Magazine last month in Tokyo. This came as a complete surprise to me and I only learned of the post thanks to the kindness of my Japanese colleague and friend Ugo.
To say I was surprised is a complete understatement. I was also a little nervous! Was he going to be critical? Had my group offended him in some way? As is the custom, I had sent him a sincere letter of thanks for the privilege of letting us watch him tie and I hoped that some foolish grammatical error hadn't betrayed me! Was he responding to that?
What was in his note!?
Fortunately, various friends assisted in forwarding his blog to me and my lovely assistant Faviola did a fast but expert translation.
It's an interesting, even remarkable piece and, after giving it much thought, I thought I'd share it with the readers of this series.
I'm doing this for several reasons:
First, it is the perfect companion piece to my last post on Nureki sensei and, I hope, will prove interesting to you, the reader. Here you will learn more about this artist and his work but this time it's from the inside, from his perspective.
Second, it is fairly rare for there to be direct communication between the greats of Japanese kinbaku and Western fans of the art form. There is no question that Nureki sensei, at 80, is one of the legendary bakushi (rope masters) of history, so this is a rare opportunity for a cultural exchange.
Third, this piece gives remarkable insights into Nureki's mind, his thoughts about his art and even his intensity of working and so is very valuable for those reasons alone.
A few words of clarification.
In this short article, Nureki sensei uses the term "you're worthy" to describe one of his reactions to our visit. The Western reader should know that the phrase "you're worthy," as sensei uses it here, comes from Japanese comics or "manga" and is a common bit of "in the balloon dialogue" used when 2 (usually samurai) characters are "sizing each other up" before and/or during an encounter or conflict.
Nureki also reacts with surprise to my using the term kuzushi nawa ("random rope") to describe his interesting and dramatic style of kinbaku. This might seem odd but, as I say in my latest book, "The Beauty of Kinbaku," shibari/kinbaku tie names have come down to us from many different sources over the years and this phrase, which also applies to arts as diverse as modern ceramics and calligraphy, is a more recent attempt to define a certain style of kinbaku that Nureki sensei is himself the master of.
Finally, I must confess to being very humbled and even embarrassed by some of the things Nureki sensei has written. Let me say that he is only being very kind. I assure the reader that had this been a private correspondence I would probably not share it but, since it originated in a public forum that's read by many of Nureki sensei's Japanese fans and since it directly concerns his own thoughts on an interesting experience I just wrote about, it seemed somehow wrong not to post this as an "extra" addition to my series.
I hope you enjoy this note from one of the great names in Japanese BDSM.
I hope you'll join me next time as my adventures in Tokyo's world of kinbaku continue and I encounter the legendary, brilliant and delightful Yukimura Haruki.
Please note: no part of these articles may be reproduced by any means without the express written consent of the author or the publisher, King Cat Ink.
Nureki Chimuo's Chat Theater #141
'Hey, you're worthy.'
By Nureki Chimuo
2010.7.16
To Master K.
From Nureki Chimuo.
I have read your letter.
I'm very sorry for the other day.
You came all this way with the express purpose of meeting me, yet because I was in a continual state of restless tension, I wasn't able to talk with you as much as I should have.
At the studio, I held the rope and bound the female model (Sawato Fuyuki). The scene was for the cameraman Kei to do a photo shoot, and it lasted three or four hours.
Excuse me for that day. I feel I treated you discourteously, and I almost can't bear it. Even though I was impolite, I felt friendly toward you the whole time. No, it was more than that, I fully felt a deep affection.
That's certainly something unusual for me.
When I'm tying a female model at work, I give a fairly unpleasant impression toward people who are "watching" the model and me with open curiosity. That sense of unpleasantness appears plainly on my face at those times. It was absolutely not directed at you.
We talked, but it was surely only for a little bit (Naturally since we were in the middle of a bondage photo shoot).
When you appeared at the studio, we lightly greeted each other. It was our first meeting. A few hours later we reached a point my bondage work where we could take a break, and you said your goodbyes. We didn't have a proper conversation before you left the studio.
However, though words weren't exchanged, you had observed precisely most of what was in my mind.
You sat on a sofa in the corner of the studio from beginning to end and didn't stand up to move around the space. And as I tied the model, I responded when making a pose by nonchalantly observing your posture and the way your eyes moved, in other words, your expression.
While my own work progressed, I was aware of your "rope" and "bondage art," the exactness in comprehension, and moreover, I surmised a profound scholarship.
Your eye color, hair color, and even your physique is different [from a Japanese person] (You're big! Probably more than 100 kilos!). Nevertheless, how can foreigners who don't understand the language and only see kinbaku from the outside understand or speak about it?
You understand it.
There's something of a mystery in this unique world of art using rope (doesn't use anything but rope) that can't just be told to people.
I watched you while you watched me, and I'll express it here as a saying found in comic books that conveys the feeling of, "Hey, you are worthy" (Please forgive me if the expression rubs you the wrong way).
Ms. A, the female translator living in Japan who served as the interpreter that day, translated a letter I received from you. The text of one of the sentences said:
". . . Particularly, your "kuzushi nawa' Is really superb, and of the many things I'd like to experience, please show me your 'kuzushi nawa.'"
And in that sentence, she translated and used a new figure of speech.
"Kuzushi nawa."
I don't recall that I've ever heard the word before, but I knew its meaning right away. Perhaps other people wouldn't understand this special term. It's a newly coined term. There's no mistaking it's a modern term.
The sense of her interpretation into Japanese creates a wonderful impression. I'd call it perfect.
Ms. A's sense of Japanese and her "SM sense" are both excellent, and I view her as someone who has a deep knowledge of them.
Among the photos and writings I've done in the past, I've diagramed bondage techniques here and there in the many magazines and books I've written, as well as the bondage manuals and the hundreds of video images that I've produced.
They way I use rope these days has emerged from those manuals. You sensed the "wonderfulness" in it, called it "kuzushi nawa," and Ms. A translated it for me.
Too many people use the bondage techniques that I've worked out or made in the past, but I feel disgusted when I see them merely imitating the forms without the accompanying heart and soul, without passion or excitement or original ideas or development. And I've secretly thought that they seem to make the rope fall loose on purpose In photography these days.
And so that's why the model Fuyuki responded precisely to "kuzushi nawa." To sum it up, to apply "kuzushi nawa" attractively, the female partner needs the ability to react to a certain degree. This reaction is by no means some cheap performance. The mind and body react quite naturally and don't hide the harsh intensity on the inside. These responses should not be acted.
Put simply, just carelessly saying things like "I like being bound," one can't produce the true charm of "kuzushi nawa" when roughly and violently tying a woman if one doesn't possess a "story" of being bound harshly in one's heart.
You really wonderfully praised my "kuzushi nawa." And your being impressed by Fuyuki's beauty and Kei's creativity made me extremely happy of course.
That day at the studio, The staff functioned as my hands and feet, and I chose only the people I could trust. With this staff, I rose to the challenge of a new work again.
If you would have thought it was "messy rope" because it wasn't the "bondage" in a manual, then I wouldn't have said something like "Hey, you're worthy" to you.
At every major point as I placed the "kuzushi nawa" on the model, your face flushed and your pupils lit up. You reacted unerringly. And each time I thought, (Ah, this American understands "rope" quite deeply) and that felt good. As lovely as it felt, it was an honest response.
Your letter said . . . I feel there are many things to know about "kuzushi nawa." If there's a chance, I would certainly like to learn it.
Understood.
If you have a chance, I will show as much as you'd like.
I think you understand the simple and complex meaning of this thing called "rope." We'll talk with peace of mind. However, I don't know how much the herbivorous race of the Japanese who gave birth to "rope" understand it, so how much could a carnivorous race who mainstreams "leather" understand? It's a mystery. Because it's a mystery, life and the world should be fun.
Master K:
I'll say it again. Your manners as a kinbaku lover watching my rope techniques were flawless. It's foolish, but whenever I see people who fiddle crudely with rope, I get a gloomy feeling. Sometimes I fight the feeling, and your existence gives me a bright hope.
Ms. A:
I've arranged to get you to translate this letter into English again for Master K, but try to reread it, it's extremely difficult. Sum up the particular subtle nuances of the Japanese language and the expressions that contain the particular shades of the kinbaku world. It's a hard to do translation, and I think it will take much time, but somehow do it well, and please convey my feelings to him. Your translation of "kuzushi nawa" is a synonym to my saying "serious rope."
