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History of Japanese Bondage

Eastern, Japanese or Oriental Bondage

By Jimi Tatu aka Nawashi Tatu

Eastern rope bondage as a sensual art form, really is not that old. Many labor under the illusion that it goes back for centuries, but in reality is only a couple of decades old.

Hojojutsu on the other hand was the art of using a rope to capture, restrain and transport suspects and criminals in Japan during the Middle Ages and Early Modern periods; practiced by Torimono, but there was nothing sensuous about it. Indeed it was not only a form of restraint but also used as a cruel torture technique.

Because bondage was considered a shameful practice, the legal captor used no knots thus out of respect allowed the person arrested no shame. There were four rules of hojojutsu:

  1. Not to allow the prisoner to slip his bonds.
  2. Not to cause any physical or mental injury.
  3. Not to allow others to see the techniques.
  4. To make the result beautiful to look at.

Japanese and Torture

Torture was used both by officials of the Tokugawa Shogunate and by individual citizens during the Edo Period (1603-1867).

The first two practices was "flogging" and the other called "pressing" which was sort of crawling on a corrugated material on bended knees while holding heavy stones on the back.

The last two techniques of torture involved rope.

If the first two failed to get the required confession, prisoner would be tied in what was called "the Prawn" position. This was to tie the person with legs crossed in front, hands tied behind back, and the person was tied bent over forward with head tied to legs. After a few hours in this position the persons whole body baked with fiery pain. The prisoners body would change colors first red, then purple, then violet, then pale blue. When the pale blue was reached the torture ended, after all they did not want to kill him or her, just get the confession they wanted. The technique might be repeated for a number of continuous days.

The fourth and final form of torture was a backwards "suspension". The prisoner would be ties and wrists and ankles and with arms pulled behind the back, suspended face down. Heavy stones would be added to make it more painful.

The Evolution of a Sensual Art form:

In time an art form evolved that took the idea of:

  1. Rendering of the captive powerless and helpless was combined with other very oriental concepts.
  2. The aesthetic aspect. Most are well aware of the significance that beauty has in oriental cultures. As in the presentation of the flower the submissive is presented as beautiful art.
  3. Add to those the idea of erotic massage. Some claim to incorporate the Orientals healing system using pressure points, thus the practices of acupressure and acupuncture. Using ropes and knots to massage those pressure points is the third facet. What I have learned from my contacts in Japan is that this is myth. There is a fourth facet to this diamond we know as Oriental Bondage.
  4. Time. Stillness, beauty, erotic massage and time, as the oriental perceives it... and you have the modern oriental bondage as we know it. Oriental bondage takes time and patience. (like growing of bonsai). The submissive experiences the inner soul, the beauty as she relaxes and focuses on her inner pleasure in the experience.

Eastern Bondage features tighter bondage, uses rough ropes like rice or hemp. Struggle is not desired, but total stillness. Emphasis is on the mind. Notice the serene look on the faces of Japanese bondage models. There is an introspection, a soul stillness if you will. The emphasis is on beauty and art, it is a decorative sensual art.

Within Oriental Bondage there are at least two different practices:

  1. The traditional Sadomasochistic approach which was handed down from the torturous practices of the Edo period is a harsh form and emphasizes pain, suffering, humiliation and the bondage itself is the basic goal. Pleasure or erotic stimulation is a byproduct of this basic goal. No one has to tell you that the Orientals historically have been masters at the art of cruel torture techniques. Remember "Chinese Water Torture?" drip drip drip... until one is driven mad. Often accompanying this type of bondage are techniques like nose torture, tit torture, hair bondage, candle waxing, and the use of clamps.
  2. A second and yet modern practice has as its main goal sensuous or erotic stimulation. The Oriental or Japanese have always been an odd confusing mixture of the ugly, torturous and the beautiful and artistic. With this sensuous form the key for the submissive to use her mind to achieve pleasure. By binding her thus forcing stillness and stimulating her body specifically the shiatsu pressure points over long periods of time, the mind is stimulated to unimaginable places. To the westerner this may sound hokey, but by forcing your captive time in bondage her mind begins to meditatively travel into the deep recesses of her inner self. The goal of this journey is the release of the body's pleasure sensors, natural endorphins if you will, the goal being to achieve a natural orgasmic high. The Japanese call this "Ky or Ki or Chi", which is simply concentrating mental and physical energy on one area of the body. The use of floggers, canes, any corporal implements etc would be considered an interruption to the goal of this form of bondage. -- Style by Nawasi Tatu

Akechi Denki

Arguably the most widely known rope artist in Japan today. Even his most torturous bondage techniques always display an element of beauty and harmony.

Asanawa.com

Stay on top by learning a few Japanese bondage terms

nawa = rope
asanawa = traditional Japanese bondage and torture rope made of hemp
nawashi = rope artist
kinbaku = the art of Japanese bondage
shibari = the action of tying someone up
shibaritai = a top indicating his/her desire for bondage action
shibararetai = a sub indicating his/her desire for bondage action
tsuri = rope suspension
musubime = knot
musunde = tying a knot

http://www.asanawa.com

Nawashi.com

To the western eye, Nawa Shibari appears to be a complicated way to tie someone up and one could probably have a lot of fun doing just that. But to the dedicated, it can be much more. Working with a single submissive, I have found that shibari represents a complete way of D/s. In part, shibari is a way of restraining to various degrees, a way of submitting deeply, a way of influencing behavior and thought, a way of intimacy, and a way of intense erotic play.
http://www.nawashi.com/

Yoshifumi Hayashi

Yoshifumi Hayashi, copyright not mine Little is known about Japanese erotic artist Yoshifumi Hayashi. Apart from this page and Thierry Zalic's site, and some books on arcanabooks.com, not much is available online. I encountered the work of Hayashi in Paris when I was seventeen. I was browsing a bargain bin of books right across the centre Pompidou. His work 'struck me' immediately but I was too shy to buy it at the time. [http://www.jahsonic.com/YoshifumiHayashi.html]

Sites of Interest

My Yahoo Club with Pictures

Book

  1. Several dozen Asian women -- well-educated, independent, liberated, experimentally-minded, and familiar with the stereotype of the submissive Asian female -- volunteered to participate in this highly- stylized fine art. In these photographic images by a non-Asian male, they appear elegantly nude and often intricately bound, often not just participating consensually but actually controlling the scenario, and thus the imagery, while ostensibly surrendering all power to another. These images are * a collaborative form of body art * exemplify the traditional values of classic creative studio photography -- formal exploration, spatial drama, nuanced lighting, concern with chiaroscuro, attention to textural detail These unusual partnerships succeed, the photos a microcosm in which they move through and past stereotypes into a zone of unexpected freedom and mutual empowerment. With an introduction by A.D. Coleman.