Nureki Chimuo Archive

To Master K. From Nureki.

I have read your letter.

I apologize for my rudeness the other day.

You went out of your way to come all that distance just to see me, yet because I was constantly in such a hectic and tense state, we weren’t able to talk properly.

It was a shoot at the studio where I was tying up a female model (Fuyuki Sawato) with rope while photographer Kei took pictures.

You silently observed only that specific shoot, which was for a magazine’s photo spread, and then you left.

It was probably only about three or four hours.

I carelessly wrote “I apologize for the other day” as a matter of formality, but to tell you the truth, I hardly feel that I was rude to you at all.

Far from being rude, I felt nothing but friendliness toward you. No, more than that, I was filled with a sense of affection for you from start to finish.

This is quite unusual for me.

When I’m tying up a female model for work, I almost always feel a sense of displeasure toward people who watch me and the woman with raw curiosity.

Sometimes I even let that annoyance show clearly on my face. In situations like this, I’m quite a sensitive person.

But I didn’t feel that displeasure at all toward you.

The conversation we exchanged was, admittedly, brief.

(Since we were in the middle of a bondage photo shoot, that’s only natural.)

When you arrived at the studio, we exchanged a brief greeting. It was our first meeting.

Several hours passed, and until my bondage work was finished and you said your goodbyes and left the studio, we didn’t have any real conversation.

However, even without exchanging words, you accurately observed nearly everything in my heart.

You sat on the sofa in the corner of the studio the entire time, never standing up or moving from that spot.

I casually observed your posture, the way you moved your gaze. In other words, your facial expressions, as I tied up the model and posed her.

While I went about my work, I was gauging your interest in ropes and bondage techniques, the accuracy of your understanding, and the depth of your knowledge.

Are you asking if I could really understand that much by looking at a foreigner from the outside, someone with different eye and hair colors, a different build (you’re huge! You look like you weigh over 100 kilos!), and with whom I couldn’t even communicate?

Well, you know, I can.

There’s a kind of unspoken mystery in this unique art form, one that uses only rope, that only those within it can truly understand.

As I observed you observing me, I got the feeling, to put it in a manga speech bubble: “You’re quite good at this.”

That’s the impression I got.

(Please forgive me if this expression offends you.)

There’s a passage like this in the letter you sent me. “...in particular, your ‘Kuzushi-nawa’ is truly wonderful, and I feel I learn a great deal from you about ‘Kuzushi-nawa.’”

This was translated for me by A-san, who was accompanying us that day as an interpreter.

This female translator, who lives in Japan, used the new term “Kuzushi-nawa” to translate a specific passage from your original text.

“Kuzushi-nawa.”

It’s a word I’ve never seen or heard before, but I understood its meaning immediately.

It is a specialized term, no, a neologism, that others likely wouldn’t understand. This new word is not incorrect.

Her sense of Japanese and her feel for language, as demonstrated by this translation, are wonderful. It’s a perfect choice of words.

I believe that, in addition to her excellent grasp of the Japanese language, she is also a person with a deep understanding of what is commonly referred to as the “SM sensibility.”

Illustrations of various bondage techniques that I have written about in the past, accompanied by photographs and text, in numerous magazines and books.

And furthermore, manuals on bondage techniques that I have produced in the form of hundreds of video recordings.

My use of rope on this day, which broke away from those manuals, you found it wonderful, called it “Kuzushi-nawa,” and A-san translated it for us.

Having grown disgusted by seeing so many people merely imitating the forms of the bondage techniques I had created and developed in the past, without any ingenuity, creativity, emotion, or passion, and without putting their heart and soul into it, I had secretly resolved in my heart during this shoot to deliberately break away from those manuals.

And Fuyuki, the model, was a woman who responded perfectly to that “Kuzushi-nawa.”

To put it simply, in order to apply “Kuzushi-nawa” in an attractive way, the woman on the receiving end needs to have the ability to react appropriately.

That reaction must never be a shallow performance.

Unless it is a reaction that is utterly natural in both mind and body, yet conceals a fierce intensity within, the “Kuzushi-nawa” cannot be executed attractively.

No matter how roughly or violently you bind a woman who merely says things like “I love being tied up” with nothing but empty words and who lacks the inner “story” of the harshness of being bound, the true allure of “Kuzushi-nawa” will never emerge.

You praised my “Kuzushi-nawa,” saying it was truly wonderful.

And of course, I was overjoyed that you were moved by the beauty of the model, Fuyuki, and the creativity of photographer Kei.

The staff who worked as my right-hand in that studio that day were all hand-picked individuals I trust implicitly. With the same team, we’ll take on new challenges.

That said, if you had thought my “Kuzushi-nawa” was sloppy rope simply because it wasn’t tied by the book, I wouldn’t have felt that “You’re quite the talent” about you.

Every time I applied the “Kuzushi-nawa” to the model and reached those crucial points, your face flushed, your eyes sparkled, and you reacted with perfect precision.

Each time, I thought, “Ahh, this American really understands ‘rope’ on a deep level” and it put me in a good mood. It was such a sincere reaction that I even found it endearing.

“I feel like I have a lot to learn from you about ‘Kuzushi-nawa.’ If the opportunity arises, I would very much like you to teach me…” That was the message in your letter.

Understood.

If the opportunity arises, I’ll be happy to teach you as much as you’d like.

I believe that you, of all people, understand the simple yet complex significance of rope. I can speak with you with complete confidence.

However, how could a "carnivorous" race, for whom “leather” is the norm, possibly understand something that the “herbivorous” Japanese, the people who gave birth to “rope,” cannot grasp no matter how much it is explained?

It is a mystery.

It is precisely because it is a mystery that the world and life are so interesting.

Master K.

I’ll say it again. Your manners as a bondage enthusiast observing my rope techniques were impeccable.

Whenever I see people playing with rope carelessly and crudely, I feel gloomy and am sometimes overcome by a sense of despair, but your presence has given me a ray of hope.

Let’s meet again.

Hey, A-san.

I’ll be asking you to translate this letter into English so Master K can read it, but when I reread it, it seems quite difficult.

In addition to the subtle nuances unique to Japanese, there are expressions throughout that capture the distinctive shades of the bondage world.

I know it will be hard to translate and will take time, but please do your best to convey my feelings to him.

One last thing.

The term “kuzushi-nawa” that you translated is synonymous with what I call “shinken-nawa12.”

12

Earnest rope.