Nureki Chimuo Archive

Continued from last time.

Producer Nakahara said to me with a stern expression,

“...But you see, Nureki Sensei, just because there’s a garden full of horsetail growing near the eaves of a house where a teru teru bozu is hanging, I think it would be unnatural, given the flow of the entire photo book, to drag the heroine, Hirome, out into that horsetail garden while’s she’s still tied up and roll her around in it. Dragging a bound woman’s body outside like that is pretty awful. Unless there’s a reason for it, even the worst kind of man wouldn’t treat Hiromi that roughly.”

If we place models in meaningless positions just because the background looks good, without thinking about the story’s logic, we’ll end up with the same thing as the “bondage photo books” that have been flooding the industry these past few years. In other words, nothing more than a collection of poses featuring women tied up with ropes.

True bondage photography enthusiasts are no longer satisfied with that sort of thing.

The key point that stimulates enthusiasts lies in imagining the inevitable SM narrative hidden behind the bound and tormented body.

Of course, I completely agree.

For us at Tomoshibi, our primary goal in creating photo books is to first satisfy ourselves, to enjoy and get excited by the results.

They are not meant to be shown to anyone other than our close circle.

(However, I do have a desire to secretly show them to fellow enthusiasts, puff out my chest, and boast, “What do you think? Isn’t it great? Isn’t it amazing? This is what true

bondage photography is all about.” Come to think of it, I’ve lived my life so far finding my purpose in the happy faces of fellow enthusiasts.)

Simply raising a camera and snapping a quick shot of a woman bound in rope being rolled into a garden of horsetail would result in a bondage photograph lacking depth, in other words, one with little substance.

A lack of depth means that, for the viewer, the work offers little in the way of stimulation, excitement, or emotional impact.

After all, the viewer wants to know what is going on inside the mind of the woman being tormented. They want to feel it.

They want to enter the innermost depths of her mind and body. They want to empathize. The ability to empathize is the privilege of the connoisseur.

True bondage enthusiasts all possess a rich imagination and the power of fantasy.

An enthusiast who lacks imagination and the ability to fantasize cannot truly be called an enthusiast. Enthusiasts are a privileged class.

It is precisely because enthusiasts possess such rich imaginations and delusions that they become aroused and can surrender their hearts to a luxurious pleasure that ordinary people cannot experience.

That said, a single shallow bondage photograph that lacks any sense of narrative cannot stimulate their signature delusional powers.

They need a clue to spark their imagination.

We at Tomoshibi began by rejecting mere collections of poses devoid of narrative.

I imagine.

A woman named Hiromi, waiting alone for her husband to return, guarding the house.

Hiromi loves her gambling-addicted husband, who left home with a debt of 1.5 million yen to a loan shark and has since gone missing.

Tamaru, the loan shark, is naturally searching for Hiromi’s husband as well.

“Where is your husband right now? Tell me. If this keeps up, the interest on the debt will just keep piling up,” as he says this, Tamaru comes to Hiromi’s house time and time again.

And he ties up the stubborn Hiromi and threatens her.

Hiromi is made to stand under the eaves, bound, alongside a teru teru bozu.

Then, Hiromi is dragged into the garden of the Kiso family.

What is the reason that made Tamaru so agitated and extreme?

(Of course, Tamaru has always had those kinds of interests and preferences.)

That’s right.

Actually, let’s say Hiromi knows where her husband is hiding right now.

She knows, but she’s keeping it a secret from Tamaru.

(Hiromi has a stubborn personality, and she also loves her husband.)

Tamaru opens a drawer in the dresser and finds an envelope containing cash.

Beside him, Hiromi, still tied up (or perhaps it would be better if she weren’t), is trembling with a look on her face that says, “Oh no!”

An angry Tamaru thrust the 100,000 yen he found right in front of Hiromi’s face.

“Hey, lady, where did this money come from? Your husband sent it to you, didn’t he? Damn it, why didn’t you say anything? Where is your husband?!”

“I don’t know. That money is from my own earnings. It wasn’t sent by him,” Hiromi says, her face a picture of desperation.

“Fine, whatever. I’ll just take this as part of the interest. Now, where is your husband? You know where he is, don’t you? Tell me,” Tamaru says threateningly.

He pinches Hiromi’s chin with his fingertips, forcing her to look up.

“You know, don’t you?”

Hiromi refuses to answer.

“Damn it, don’t play dumb!” Tamaru rages.

And then, what if we set it up so he drags her into the garden of the Japanese horsetail?

That would be reason enough for Tamaru to get angry.

As with last time, I, that is Nureki, will play Tamaru. However, I’ll make sure only my hands and feet appear on screen.

The scene of a few 10,000 yen bills scattered around the bound, terrified Hiromi (though it’s a bit cliche) would be easy to understand and make for an interesting scene, wouldn’t it?

Also, as with the last shoot, I expect producer Nakahara to refine the details and create a polished script.

Today is two days before filming.

The four of us will gather again at photographer Yamanouchi’s house. I’m looking forward to it.

I wonder if that big, plump cat, so friendly, charming, and full of personality, is doing well. Getting to see that cat again is one of the things I’m looking forward to. I usually don’t like cats or dogs, but for some reason, I really like that cat.

It just occurred to me, when we gag her, what if we stuff a toru toru bozu (paper doll) into Hiromi Saotome’s mouth along with the cloth scraps? I feel like that would give it a cruel vibe?

I wrote out the scene carefully and visualized it, but this time, too, it’s a photo shoot for a photo book, not a video.

We at Tomoshibi make sure to construct a solid narrative even for photo shoots. We write notes that are almost like a script to prepare ourselves mentally.