The SM Detective

I received an email from Esinem letting me know he had arrived in Osaka safe and sound. He'll be spending several days in the Kansai region before coming here to Tokyo.

I believe I've already mentioned that I met Esinem last year in Tokyo when he came here to study kinbaku with various masters of the art. He ended up being interviewed by the people at S&M Sniper when it was still in magazine form. There was a video interview included in the DVD that accompanied the magazine. I also believe he got some coverage in the magazine itself either on that or a previous occasion.

We had a good time eating Korean BBQ at some place in Shin-Okubo, just a stone's throw from Shinjuku on the Yamanote line.

So what do two perverts talk about while gorging on pork and beer? Why, making an SM movie, what else?

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So the other day I decided I should check out the site using Internet Explorer, you know, just to be sure.

Another blog I was writing for previously used a different platform (WordPress) and, at that time, I was using a Toshiba laptop, Windows OS and IE as my browser. So the blog was "optimized" for Internet Explorer. After the laptop died I switched to a Mac Mini and have been using either Safari or Firefox. Mostly Firefox as I personally don't care much for Safari.

But I fired up my new PC the other day just to have a look at the site using IE. (I generally don't use the Windows box for the internet. It's my editing machine and as such, I really don't need some virus in there screwing with my software.)

I figured the layout of this site would look pretty much the same. Boy, was I wrong. What a disaster.

Hit the Read More link for info. Don't miss the last video called Guillotine Show.

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Now that I've spent some time bashing the 90s, I would be remiss if I didn't note something good about that time period: Japanese TV.

The first time I came to Japan, in 1994, I stayed at the Shinagawa Prince Hotel. I was only here for a few days and spent most of the time out just wandering around Tokyo. After a long day of sightseeing, I'd return to the hotel and turn on the boob tube.

To my surprise (and delight) there was T & A all over the place -- and even bondage.

And this wasn't on cable or satellite TV. I'm not even sure if there was satellite TV back then. This was regular, over-the-air broadcast television. As an example, there was a game show that had a pretty young woman tied up quite stringently as part of the fun.

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While everyone has heard of Tani Naomi, there seems to be precious little information available on the other Naomi: Oka Naomi. Although in a previous post I reported (thanks to my friend who is much more informed in this area than I am) that the two Naomis actually appeared together, at least once, in a Nikkatsu film.

I have searched the internet in both English and Japanese for information on this beautiful actress and have come up with very little, indeed.

One interesting thing to note about this actress: her name is written in at least four different ways in Japanese. I found this out when I was out poster hunting. I thought the picture on the poster looked like Oka Naomi but I had to confirm this with the shop owner just to be sure.

Here are some examples: 丘ナオミ -- 丘奈保美 -- 岡尚美 -- 丘なおみ

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In the mood for a little nostalgia? Good, me too.

Lately I've been contemplating the Golden Age of SM. It's hard to say exactly when the Golden Age was, though, and different people will have different opinions on the matter.

For me, the Golden Age of SM occurred in the 1970s. This was when the American company known as House of Milan were doing their best work and Japan's Nikkatsu were putting out their classic bondage films starring the legendary Tani Naomi.

However, you might go back to the late 1940s (or perhaps even prior to WWII) if you're a fan of Itou Seiu, the renowned artist whom many regard as the father of modern day kinbaku. I don't think I would consider this time period the Golden Age, however, since there were so few people openly (or somewhat openly) engaged in SM activities.

Itou Seiu was truly a pioneer but the Golden Age was yet to come.

You could make a case for the 50s and the arrival on the scene of the magazine Kitan Club. More and more people started coming out of the closet and the freedom to express oneself in kinky ways continued its slow but steady march forward.

The definition of the Golden Age of SM may be somewhat fluid, but I know one thing: Everything went to hell by the 1990s.

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