The SM Detective

Judging by the thermometer (and the sweat dripping from my face), summer is here. What better way to escape the humidity than to ensconce oneself in the cool, dark environs of one of Tokyo's bars or clubs? The drinks may be cold but the action will be sizzling, giving the blasting air con a run for its money.

Here's a list of what's coming up:

VANILLA GALLERY June 21-July 3

This one's not a bar, but 2010 marks the 90th anniversary of the birth of Minomura Kou, one of the most acclaimed men in the world of Japanese SM. He died in 1992 at the age of 72 but his spirit lives on at this exhibition of his art at Vanilla Gallery. In addition, on June 26, Saotome Hiromi will give a talk on the master.

BLACK DECADANCE June 26-27

Goth, SM, cosplay, you name it. This is an all-nighter and will be held in Shibuya from 23:30 to 6:00. Here's the address in Japanese. Get to copy'n and paste'n.
Address: 道玄坂2-29-5

KIN'S BAR July 2

Beginning at 18:00, this one is going to be amazing. Last time Saotome Hiromi and Shima Shikou were there. This time I am advised the guest of honor will be none other than legendary pink film actor and director, Ikejima Yutaka. This fellow is reported to have directed more than 100 pink films and acted in more than 500. I've also heard that an actress (or actresses?) from the pink film world will be stopping by.

SADISTIC CIRCUS July 17

At Shibuya O-East from 17:00 to 22:00

Thanks to Nuitdetokyo on FetLife for info on a couple of these events.

I received word of this event almost literally at the last minute. At first I thought I'd have to take a pass. I had no plans to go into Shinjuku on Friday and since I had to be there again on Saturday, I wasn't looking forward to making the additional trip.

But then I reconsidered. Here's what was happening: Renowned bondage photographer Tanaka Kinichi was having the grand opening of his Kin's Bar, a bar that, as far as I know, had been merely a set in one of his photo studios up to this point. On Friday night it would be turned into a real bar and Tanaka was pulling out all the stops to make the event a success.

The part that really sealed the deal for me was that actress, model and performer Saotome Hiromi was going to be there.

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The film that has had more comebacks than Rocky Balboa is set for nationwide release in Japan on Saturday, Aug. 28. Hana to Hebi 3 (Flower and Snake 3) will have its "roadshow" this summer and will star former gravure idol, Komukai Minako.

Ms. Komukai recently celebrated her 25th birthday at a restaurant in Ebisu. The press got the lowdown on the new film in addition to reporting on Ms. Komukai's low-cut dress which barely contained her massive F-cup breasts.

Ms. Komukai told the hacks present that bondage turned out to be more strenuous than she had expected and said that she had been tied to bamboo poles and even hung upside down by her ankles.

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If all goes according to plan, I should be shooting something the early part of June. This time I plan to memorialize the event with video in addition to stills. Just one problem: I'm a fanatic when it comes to location. For me, just any old place won't do. As a result, Motel 6, my apartment and faux red plastic dungeons are out.

There are the so-called SM hotels around Tokyo. Most of them appear to be of the red plastic dungeon variety. They are filled with stupid-looking bondage chairs, St. Andrew's crosses and other useless garbage. Much too Western-looking -- and red -- and plasticky.

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About 40 years ago, an uncommon man living in a very common place sent some peculiar photos to a new publishing concern in Southern California. The company, HOM (House of Milan), ran the photos in one of their magazines. And the rest, as they say, is history.

We don't know the name of the photographer. He used aliases, including Jason Whitman and John Blakemore. But it doesn't really matter. All that matters is that, for nearly two decades, “John Blakemore” churned out some of the finest bondage photo sets and films of the 1970s and 80s.

Some would argue that his work was the best, even up to the present time.

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NawaPedia is an online encyclopedia of Japanese bondage and related kinky activities. It is the English sister site of SMpedia which is in Japanese. The founder of SMpedia also set up NawaPedia in order to get this hard-to-come-by information out to a much larger audience.

I took it upon myself to help out with this project so I set up a Group at FetLife called NawaPedia Fan. There is a lot of great information accumulating at SMpedia and the goal is to get as much of it as possible translated into English for NawaPedia.

And so we are putting out the call for volunteer translators -- people who are able to read and write Japanese who would be willing to lend a hand with this project. If you're literate in Nihongo and think you might be able to help, contact me by leaving a private comment here at the blog. Alternatively, you can go to NawaPedia and use the email contact there or get in touch at the NawaPedia Fan Group on FetLife.

Someone asked me what the difference was between NawaPedia and that other famous online encyclopedia. The main difference is that NawaPedia will be much more comprehensive. While you will find information on the really big names of Japanese SM at the other place, nothing at all can be found there on lesser-known, yet important, figures. In addition, all the information is in one place at NawaPedia and very easy to find.

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I've recently got quite wrapped up in matters involving the history of kinbaku in Japan as well as the exchange of SM materials between Japan and the US.

Thanks to Master "K", I learned that there was an outfit in Japan called the Phoenix Co. and that it was responsible for sending some very high quality, color bondage images across the Pacific in the 1970s. I saw at least two of these magazines with my own eyes. My memory is fading but I believe they were titled Osaka Bondage and Sapporo Bondage.

I'm not sure if I believed at the time the photos were actually taken in those cities, but now I simply think the people who published the magazines in the US found these to be convenient titles.

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PHOTO COURTESY GUILTY


The excitement is palpable over at ForumBondage.

It isn't often you get to see a real Japanese rope artist doing his thing outside of Japan, so the folks who attended the second edition of the London Festival of the Art of Japanese Bondage were in for a special treat.

Hajime Kinoko was on hand (along with his busty sidekick) to perform shows and hold special classes in the art of kinbaku. It seems a lot of very good photographers were on hand as well. I'm reproducing just one of the photos here. Check out ForumBondage for a much larger selection. (Note: If you want to see the goodies, you need to register.)

There are also a couple of videos available:

Video I
Video II

Esinem, one of the sponsors of the event, is to be commended for bringing authentic Japanese kinbaku to a Western audience.

Update: Hajime Kinoko will perform at Torture Garden in London on April 30 and will present kinbaku workshops at BoundCon in Munich, Germany on May 7-8.

KabukiJoe

So I went shopping today and picked up asanawa and tenugui. Believe it or not, this is the first time I've bought my own asanawa. I've used it before, yes, but have been satisfied in the past to use my cotton rope from the 100 yen shop! Oh, that and my nasty (and dirty) rice rope from the home center. That stuff kicks ass. And it's cheap.

The asanawa came in a set of 10 pieces, 6mm in diameter, 10m in length.

One thing seems to be true: Once you've used good asanawa, you just seem to want to keep on using it. It's really amazing rope. Especially for our purposes.

Also had a nice lunch with one of my pals. He lent me a video that was produced many years ago by Cinemagic and Yukimura Haruki. There's plenty of eye candy in it but it is mainly about Minomura Kou and features Arisue Go, Dan Oniroku and Nureki Chimuo among others. I had seen this video years ago but didn't realize its significance at that time.

I have a goal now to have this video translated into English. We'll see how that works out.

Some more shots of my booty.






By the way, all these tenugui are printed, not dyed. The dyed ones can get quite expensive.

KabukiJoe

Ages ago (back in the days of VHS) there was a company in Los Angeles called Orchid (or Orchids) International that was importing Japanese films. Among them were three or four SM pink movies from Shintoho. Each one started with the words: Violence Porno!

I have never seen these films in Japan, much to my consternation. Each one had the lovely Oka Naomi, also known as the other Naomi, and each one was crammed full of excellent shot-on-film bondage action. Tani Naomi gets all the press while Oka Naomi seems to have faded into oblivion. Every now and then I wonder where she is and what she's doing.

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