Nureki Chimuo Archive

Production notes for Hiromi Saotome’s upcoming new photo book.

There’s a model, a man appears, and without any explanation or foreshadowing, he ties her up with rope, makes her strike various poses, and when the time comes, he unties her. Then, for some reason, the model starts crying and clings to the man, and finally, she lets all the tension drain from her body and lies limply within the ropes. A simple, formulaic performance that has become so routine it lacks any novelty or excitement. (Ah, to be honest, the very person who first pioneered this kind of staged bondage, and who has mindlessly repeated the same thing over and over again in hundreds of video titles, is none other than myself, Nureki Chimuo!) I had to find a way to break free from this. I had to take interesting sequential photos like those from the old Uramado era. After discussing this repeatedly with producer Nakahara Rutsu, I finally made up my mind.

Unlike simple, formulaic bondage shows, taking photos with a narrative requires several times the energy.

I falter and hesitate.

But I had already declared my resolve in front of producer Rutsu.

I have no choice but to do it.

From here on out, I’ll write down notes for the shoot as they come to mind, without any particular order.

They are, quite literally, just notes.

According to the Obunsha Japanese Dictionary, “memo” is an abbreviation of “memorandum.”

“Writing down only the main points so as not to forget them. A written reminder.”

That is what it is.

I’ll simply string together whatever comes to mind, just as the inspiration strikes.

I’ll write plenty of useless, superfluous things, too.

Photographer Sachi Yamanouchi.

Please find the inspiration for the moment you press the shutter from these notes. Location: A cramped room in a cheap apartment. There is a shabby tatami-mat room, and a single pillar stands at the boundary between the room and the hallway leading to the entrance. A woman named Hiromi (played by Hiromi Saotome) and a man named Tamaru (played by Nureki Chimuo) are sitting across from each other. The atmosphere is tense and unsettling. Tamaru’s Lines (Since this is a still photograph, naturally there are no lines and none can be heard. However, to bring the man’s posture and Hiromi’s posture and expression to life, I have written the lines here. Hiromi’s movements and expressions change in response to the threats and obscene remarks spewed from the man’s mouth.) “Listen, honey, now that we’ve come this far, I’m going to be blunt. There are all kinds of loan sharks in town, but I’m not bragging. There’s probably no one else out there as shady as us. You don’t need to look so scared. Just because you can’t pay us back doesn’t mean we’re going to take your life. Still, your husband’s gambling addition is pretty bad, isn’t it? Horse racing, bicycle racing, pachinko, he dabbles in everything, and he just keeps losing. Your husband just doesn’t have a knack for gambling. Even though he has no talent for it, he’s crazy about gambling.

I was a fool to lend a guy like that 1.5 million yen, but there’s no point in saying that now. I hear he left home without telling you, his wife, and hasn’t come back for three months now? Hmm, I wonder where the hell he’s hiding. But I can’t just leave things like this. Could you tell me where he’s hiding? Well, even if I find out where he’s hiding, it’s all for nothing anyway. But I can’t just give up, you know.”

Since this isn’t video footage, the man’s words naturally don’t appear in the photograph. Anyone looking at the photograph alone wouldn’t know.

However, if the man (that is, me) gets into the mood and utters lines like this the moment shooting begins, not only Saotome but everyone present, though that’s just photographer Sachi and producer Rutsu, will find their hearts immersed in a single atmosphere.

And seeing Hiromi’s pitiful expression and body language as she’s threatened by the man, photographer Sachi might start snapping photos right away.

When the photographer presses the shutter, he doesn’t need to call out to Hiromi or Tamaru in the scene.

I want him to just keep snapping away whenever he feels the moment is right.

The next lines and actions of this loan shark, Tamaru. “Even if I told you to tell me where your husband is hiding, you’d just play dumb and not tell me anyway. So I’m going to wait here for your husband. If I wait in this house, he’ll come back eventually. After all, it seems he’s got a crush on you.

When he gets back, I’ll grab him right there. Then, I’m sorry to say, I’ll make sure you can’t move from here. If you get away, I’ll lose all my leads.” Tamaru suddenly grabbed one of Hiromi’s wrists and twisted it behind her back. At the same time, he took out the rope he had hidden and tied it around her wrist.

From here on, the sequence follows the usual bondage routine between Nureki and Saotome, but be mindful of the photographer’s shutter speed and adjust your movements accordingly to ensure they are effective.

Tamaru and Hiromi will need to move while accounting for the differences between video and still photography, but if you focus too much on that, the work will lack realism, so let’s all be careful about this.

If the photos end up looking formulaic, it defeats the whole purpose of us forming “Tomoshibi.”

However, since both Nureki and Saotome are well-accustomed to this balance between acting with a sense of speed and maintaining realism from their numerous shoots so far, I’m actually not too worried.

If, by any chance, the photographer misses a shot, just say casually and without hesitation, “Ah, could you do that part again?” Both Saotome and I will repeat it immediately.

Repeating it is a simple matter.

However, when repeating the same movement, let’s follow the photographer’s instructions with the utmost care so as not to lose the sense of realism.

Let’s proceed with the shoot as naturally as possible.

Let’s all be careful to absolutely avoid taking those cheap, staged photos where you can almost hear the photographer barking orders at the model, “Look that way, look this way, lift your chin, lower your chin, furrow your brows, make a sad face!”

Let’s engrave this in our hearts. Photos where you can only sense the photographer’s voice giving instructions are the absolute worst kind of bondage photography.

In particular, producer Rutsu, please position yourself where you can oversee the entire proceedings, keep a watchful eye on everything, and observe with a sense of vigilance.

Our work can easily become superficial if we’re not careful. If we let our guard down, we’ll quickly fall into a rut and end up in the worst possible situation. Stagnation.

(Come to think of it, I feel as though my very existence is already a cliche, and that everything I do has become stagnant.)

To be honest, the reason I recently asked photographer Kyoichi Tsuzuki, through Chikuma Shobo, to take photos of my workroom, which I usually keep a secret, was precisely because I wanted to break out of that rut.

And it was this photo book, taken on that occasion and personally edited and bound by Photographer Tsuzuki himself, that served as the catalyst for the decision to photograph the members of Tomoshibi this time.

As mentioned earlier, Hiromi Saotome has also seen the photo book “Tabata Hojoki,” which features my workroom and myself.

“This is great! I’d love to make something like this!” Saotome exclaimed enthusiastically.

At this point, even without me explaining the details of this shoot to her again, my feelings and my intentions should already be clear to her.

I have also written about my resolve for this project and my feelings toward Saotome in the magazine “SM Net” (Sunny Publishing).

I want Saotome to cast aside her stage name, Hiromi Saotome, and let herself be bound by my ropes.

And I want her to react honestly to my ropes. That is all. Acting is completely unnecessary.

This shoot is taking place at the Yamanouchi residence, and including Saotome, there are only four of us gathered here.

Moreover, we are close comrades who know each other well, with no lies or secrets between us. There won’t be a single unnecessary staff member present.

Come to think of it, having four people, each possessing a secret nature that wouldn’t be accepted in the outside world, gathered in a single room to spend several hours together is likely a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence.

Let’s lay bare our true feelings to one another in front of Sachi Yamanouchi’s camera.

The shoot is just ten days away.

If we’re struck by a massive earthquake during the shoot that day, the four of us will die right there together.

“I’d be perfectly content with that,” I said, but the other three broke into complicated, subtle smiles, exchanged glances, tilted their heads in unison, saying “Hmm, that’s a bit much…” (laughs)