Nureki Chimuo Archive

Well, how should I put this? Ever since I wrote that post about “All About Water Torture” last time, I’ve been swamped with all sorts of weird and chaotic work, so I still haven’t gotten around to actually doing the water torture I was planning.

Even though the script has been ready for ages, I just haven’t had the time to start shooting “The Feel of Water” scenes.

Unfortunately, everyone on the Tomoshibi team has suddenly become swamped with their own work, so we no longer have the time to get everyone together for the shoot.

In the last “Talking Theater,” we were all fired up to start filming right away, but the truth is, we haven’t started a thing yet.

And, as of now, there’s not even a hint of it happening.

I pretty much saw this embarrassing situation coming from the start, so there’s no point in making excuses now.

I hope this doesn’t sound like I’m complaining, but the members of Tomoshibi are all capable individuals (except for me) with their own unique personalities. They take their responsibilities seriously in their respective workplaces and work harder than the average person.

(Well, since they’re capable people, they inevitably get busy and have no free time. People who aren’t capable aren’t busy. And the result is that we don’t really want people who aren’t busy and have free time in Tomoshibi.)

We wrapped up filming “The Sunset Room” and “The Horsetail Garden” without a hitch, but just as we were about to start on “The Feel of Water,” the final installment of the trilogy, we hit a snag.

We weren’t aiming to publish a photo book for commercial sale. As I’ve written many times before, Tomoshibi is a group that came together with resolve to create something we ourselves could be satisfied with. Therefore, there was never any such thing as a deadline from the start.

It was a photo project started in a spirit of freedom by friends who found joy simply in seeing each other’s faces.

However, no matter how busy we are, I feel it’s wrong to let something we’ve already started fizzle out halfway through.

It wouldn’t do for Tomoshibi to fade away without us even noticing.

Since we’ve been sharing updates on the progress of this “Talking Theater,” including detailed scripts, we feel a certain responsibility to those of you reading this.

So, please allow me to offer a brief explanation.

Ironically, the four of us from Tomoshibi, Sachi Yamanouchi, Hiromi Saotome, Nakahara Rutsu, and myself, actually run into each other quite often outside of the Tomoshibi filming set.

When we do meet, we often chat, but those settings have nothing to do with Tomoshibi filming, and people who have nothing to do with SM work are usually present as well.

On those occasions, we have important topics to discuss in those settings, and we talk earnestly or take some kind of action.

Even when we’re shooting together, there’s no way we could discuss the next Tomoshibi shoot.

It would be awkward to talk about the “bondage photo book” shoot we’re secretly working on if people with no connection to SM were present.

Or rather, I definitely wouldn’t want to.

Well, that’s how it is.

The fact that all four of us are busy isn’t just lip service. We really are busy.

We’re certainly not just pretending to be busy.

Amidst our hectic daily lives, there are some things I’d like to record here.

(For example, the other day there was an exhibition titled “Kyodo Miyabi Secret Art Exhibition: Spiders and Pistils” at a gallery in Ginza 6-Chome, and as part of that event, there was a talk show with the outrageous title “The Aesthetics of the Showa Mind,” in which I appeared alongside Hiromi Saotome.)

Even at times like this, when the members of Tomoshibi happen to run into each other through our respective connections, we just can’t seem to get around to talking about our photography.

I can’t bring myself to suddenly insert a story about the event at the Ginza gallery right in the middle of writing passionately about Tomoshibi photography in my “Talking Theater” column every time.

too.

Actually, four of us from the doujin group are meeting up at a certain place tomorrow,

However, in addition to the four of us, there will be about a dozen other people there, and they are also fellow enthusiasts studying a different topic (though none of them have anything to do with SM).

So, it’s simply impossible for just the four of us from Tomoshibi to gather in one place and whisper about some suspicious photo shoot.

Once, after one of those meetings had ended, the four of us were huddled together in a corner of a restaurant, quietly discussing something, when one of the people from the gathering just moments before forcefully joined us and said quite brazenly, “That sounds interesting. Let me hear about it.”

“This is a meeting about our work,” I said.

“I won’t get in the way, I’ll just listen quietly,” he said, not budging, no matter how many times I told him. His face was a mask of raw curiosity. What a vulgar, coarse face!

There was no way I could discuss the specifics of a bondage photo shoot in front of someone like that.

I was really at a loss.

In the end, I got angry.

Tomorrow, the four of us will meet again at an event unrelated to SM, but once that’s over and night falls, I’ll be the only one who has to go to yet another gathering.

(This is another gathering completely unrelated to SM, but I feel a sense of responsibility to attend.)

So, even though the four of us will finally be together tomorrow, we still can’t set a date for the shoot of “The Feel of Water” (Ah, I must say, that’s a great title!).

Well, that’s the story.

“If the four of us don’t make an effort to find time to talk, this photo book will never get done!” said Nakahara Rutsu, Director of the Sex Industry Museum.

“But let’s try not to push ourselves too hard and take our time. It’s not like we have a deadline or anything. Let’s take our time and get some great photos,” I said.

The other day, the Sex Industry Museum hosted an event called “Shizuhiro Usui: A Slideshow of Forbidden Secret Art.”

Nakahara Rutsu, who served as the event’s planner, organizer, slide projector operator, and master of ceremonies, gave it her all once again that day.

The event was a huge success.

That night, after the event, I secretly showed a few photos I had taken at Tomoshibi to Mr. El Bondage2, a painter and old acquaintance who had attended.

“Wow, this is obscene! What an obscene photo! This is truly obscene! This gag, it’s amazing!”

Staring intently at the photos, Mr. El Bondage let out a deep groan.

Just to clarify, these are photos of Hiromi Saotome, fully clothed, with a hand towel tied around her mouth like a gag, and her hands are bound behind her back.

To reiterate, she is fully clothed. Her legs are also firmly closed.

“Is this really obscene?” I asked Mr. Bondage.

“It is obscene," Mr. Bondage replied in a low voice, as if trying to contain his excitement.

The concept of obscenity as defined by society and the obscenity we perceive were this different.

2

El Bondage (エル・ボンデージ氏に), is a manga artist who draws various erotic SM themed

manga.

After Mr. Bondage left, I spoke to photographer Sachi Yamanouchi, who was still at the venue, “Mr. El Bondage was really moved by this photo and called it obscene. He’s not the type to flatter people or tell lies. That’s great. He gave us the highest possible compliment.”

Yamanouchi-san is always a quiet, composed woman, and she simply nodded, saying in a low voice, “Oh, really?”

Unlike a frivolous person like me, she didn’t get all excited and make a fuss.

But at that moment, I clearly saw that Yamanouchi-san’s eyes were glistening.