The SM Detective

I had set up an interview with a hero of mine, the amazing photographer, Sugiura Norio, and when the day arrived to conduct the interview, I forgot all about it!

I was gutted. Completely shattered. At the time, I believed I would never have another chance. That was the knife turning after the initial thrust. I can't describe the agony.

But phone calls were made and emails sent. After awhile it looked like there might still be some hope of salvaging the whole sorry mess. As it turned out, one month later to the day, I was sitting across from the man I had admired from afar for years.

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While I'm slaving away here trying to get this interview I recently conducted ready for publication, I thought I'd post these photos I received from Hajime Kinoko which were taken at his rope event in Shibuya a few weeks back. These photos were taken by another photographer and present a little different perspective from the ones I posted here earlier.

Also, there are three new photos at the end giving a taste of the hojojutsu demonstration.

In addition, the recorded interview with Kinoko was given the once-over by the multi-talented rida and she has provided us with some more usable quotes which I've superimposed over the photos.

Anyway, the next report is an interview I recently conducted with superstar bondage photographer, Sugiura Norio, and I'll have that up next week sometime. There is a lot of historical information in this piece (Sugiura goes back to the early 70s) and, as a result, I've had to do a lot more research than is usually the case and there is some other work going on behind the scenes as well.

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People who know me know I'm nearly obsessed with actress and model Saotome Hiromi. In fact, I'm just this far away from constructing one of those creepy shrines you hear about every now and then. The only thing stopping me is lack of space in my shoebox apartment.

So it comes as interesting news, indeed, to find out what she's up to these days.

The last I saw of her was her appearance in the film Bakushi, but that was some time ago now. I know she had been a writer for SM Sniper magazine (when they were still in business). Prior to that she had a long and illustrious career as an actress in big and low budget SM flicks.

Now it has been announced that Ms. Saotome will take over as the new mama-san of the fetish bar Black Heart in Ginza. What is a mama-san? A mama-san is basically the manager of a place and, especially in the fetish business, one of the, or perhaps the, most important ingredients to the successful running of such an operation.

They are throwing a party on March 13 beginning at 20:00 in honor of Ms. Saotome's appointment. As far as I know, Black Heart is still an SM style hostess bar with a lot of conversation going on, so you should probably go equipped with a pretty good knowledge of Nihongo. With that in mind, I'll give you all the deets here in the original lingo.

銀座BLACKHEART　メールマガジン

新ブラックハート ★☆★リニューアル記念★☆★ 就任披露パーティー 3月13日土曜日　20時～LAST 料金　男性¥13,000、女性¥2,000（フリータイム、フリードリンク）

蕾火（特別ゲスト&パフォーマンス）

いよいよ、ブラックハートが本格的に始動しました。ママに早乙女宏美、マスターにはキクチが就任し、これからのブラックハートを盛り上げまいります。つきましては「就任記念パーティー」を開催します。引き続き厚いご指導とご鞭撻をお願いいたします。皆様のお越しを心よりお待ち申し上げております

当日は全ボトル30%OFFにてご提供させていただきます

銀座ブラックハート BLACKHEART

東京都中央区銀座６-３-１６泰明ビル地下２階ＴＥＬ：０３-５５６８-７７１４

営業時間月曜～土曜／PM20:00～25:00 定休日／日曜・祝日

By the way, the special guest will be Raika.

KabukiJoe

Thanks to poster Nuitdetokyo in the Kinbaku Group at FetLife, we are informed that it will soon be time for the twice yearly DX SM Live Show in Kabukicho, Shinjuku. This is a huge event running from March 11-20.

From the flyer we can see Kazami Ranki, Naka Akira, Shima Shikou and Randa Mai. Also performing will be Hajime Kinoko, Asagi Ageha, Osada Steve, Mira Kurumi and others, as well as a host of mistresses. NdT points out that the mistresses pretty much split between tying up dainty young females on stage and recruitng male volunteers from the audience.

Entrance is 8,000 yen for men, 6,000 yen for women and this is on a daily basis.

Here's the link.




In addition, a friend of mine let me know that Tohjiro of Dogma fame will be holding an event at Loft Plus One, also in Kabukicho, on March 24. Doors open at 18:00 and the event begins as 19:00. This one is 10,000 yen but it looks like there will be no fewer than five beautiful sub girls on display, not unlike in times past.

Here's the link.

The first time I was taken to Shinjuku 2-Chome a few years ago, I didn't have a clue it was the gay hotspot in Tokyo. We went to a restaurant called Cocolo Cafe which had pretty decent food at reasonable prices.

By the third or fourth time I went there, I started noticing something kind of out of the ordinary: there didn't seem to be any chicks in the place!

Now, I'm not some bumpkin who's just fallen off the turnip truck, but I did spend too many years out in the provinces before moving into Tokyo. Maybe that put a glitch in my gaydar. I mean, I know my way around West Hollywood pretty well and have had the obligatory tour of the Castro district. But, for some reason, the first couple of times I went over to 2-Chome, I just thought I was in another funky place in funky Tokyo.

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UPDATE: Forgiveness is a beautiful thing. And second chances. Stay tuned.

Today, Monday the 25th, I had the opportunity to interview one of the legends of the Japanese SM world.

And I blew it. I forgot the appointment.

I had been working on this for weeks. Thinking about it almost every day. Through a friend I found an excellent translator.

Yesterday I went to Hajime Kinoko's event. I wanted to get the info and pics up as soon as possible. I worked on it all night. During the night I think fatigue set in and I just wasn't thinking about the appointment.

By the time I woke up, it was too late.

Now I'm in "compensation" mode. The interview is off. How do I compensate people to whom I've caused all this trouble? That's what I'm trying to figure out right now.

I think I'm going to lay off blogging for awhile. Need time to think about all this. The purpose of this blog was to get this kind of information from Japan that's so hard to come by for us Westerners. But if I can't even remember a simple appointment...

That's what makes this fuck up of mine so painful.

KJ

I wasn't able to make it to SM World in Night in Shinjuku a couple of weeks ago. I made up for it by attending an event in Shibuya hosted by Hajime Kinoko and his Ichi Nawa No Kai rope salon.

This one started in the afternoon and continued into the evening, while SM World was an all-nighter. I need my beauty rest.

The show featured very traditional nawa acts with most of the performers dressed in olden days Japanese attire.

I wasn't able to see all the acts because they were going on simultaneously on two floors of the club, a place called Module. Besides this, Module was a lot smaller than I had expected and it was really hard to move around. I was pretty much stuck on the B1 level and decided to remain there after hearing that the viewing arrangement on the B2 level was even more challenging.

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At Module in Shibuya.

It had been awhile since I'd got together with this young lady. The last time was towards the end of summer. Still too hot for me but not nearly hot enough for her.

This time the mercury had dropped significantly although we in Tokyo have yet to arrive at the really cold time of year. And unlike many places around the globe, no snow has fallen although we usually get at least a few flakes.

Judging from what I've been reading about Europe, I wonder if we will be in for some colder weather this winter and a heavier snowfall? I think it was two years ago that we went almost the entire winter with no snow. Then one or two flakes came down in Ginza and the meteorologists were thwarted.

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When you approach the entrance of Sleeping Beauty in Shibuya, you don't just walk through the door like it's the local convenience store. It doesn't open automatically like most doors these days. In fact, it's kept firmly locked.

There's an intercom outside. Push the button. When the door opens, if it opens, prepare to enter a different world.

Of course, the neighborhood where Sleeping Beauty is located isn't exactly Main St., USA. This is an area populated by love hotels, clubs and various and sundry other establishments catering to a decidedly adult clientele.

Sleeping Beauty is a "happening bar" and, as such, it fits in well here.

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