Nureki Chimuo Archive

At the Sex Industry Museum in Iidabashi, I was shown some wonderful photographs by the director, Nakahara Rutsu. This is an old photograph believed to have been taken approximately sixty years ago; or perhaps even earlier. Since it’s a photo I see and I say “wonderful,” it naturally has to be one of the “bondage” variety. Approximately one hundred 6x6 cm negatives are filed alongside their contact sheets. Among them, I had about sixteen copies of the ones I particularly liked enlarged using the museum’s photocopier. The small 6x6 cm original was enlarged to 20x20 centimeters in the blink of an eye and printed onto paper. It’s only natural for a copier with the latest performance, but even so, the enlargements were so vivid and clean that I couldn’t help but pick up each one and say, “Hmmm, this is wonderful!” I moaned. What’s truly remarkable is not only the copier’s excellent performance, but also the fascinating content of the enlarged photographs. Staring intently, all sorts of fantasises well up inside me, sending shivers down my spine. Among them, the series of photographs depicting scenes from period dramas is particularly interesting. Both the men and women appearing wear period drama wigs, and their costumes are, of course, kimonos.

Both men and women have large tattoos covering their shoulders and arms. This means they are both outlaws, yakuza members, by design. This tattoo is obviously not real; it’s clearly drawn. The drawing is somewhat crude. The woman’s upper body is also bare, clearly revealing the swirling pattern of her tattoo. In other words, she has been stripped bare from the waist up and bound with her hands tied behind her back. And the setting for this performance is the tokonoma30 alcove in a slightly aged Japanese-style room, and the adjacent chigai-dana31 shelf. The sheer joy of preparing such elaborate, time-consuming, and luxurious settings just for the sake of taking photos of “bondage,” this playful spirit delights me beyond measure. Sixty or seventy years ago, the passionate, single-minded determination of those who conceived such elaborate ideas, made plans, prepared, and took bondage photographs; that spirit resonates deeply within my heart seventy years later. Amidst such thrilling, joyful moments, I can almost hear the pulse of those people, excited and engrossed as they operate their cameras. They don’t feel like strangers at all. They are truly “comrades.” The kind of cruel photographs taken from the simplistic notion that it’s enough to simply twist a woman’s body, sometimes injure it, and inflict pain; such images are utterly unrelated to the emotional essence of the SM I find pleasurable. Even if someone shoves a photograph in my face, taken without any artistry or restraint, exposing a certain kind of male sexual outlet in its raw state, and says, “How about that? Pretty amazing, huh?” such things bring me no pleasure. Even if “rope” is used in that photograph, I refuse to call that sort of thing “bondage photography.” Even if shown a photo of a woman stripped naked, bound hand-behind-back, with only one leg hoisted high to ostentatiously expose her crotch, I simply cannot muster any interest in it as an “SM photograph.” The photographer’s intent is painfully obvious, that showing a woman’s crotch alone will make all men happy, yet at times it even invokes disgust. A staggered Japanese-style shelf A recessed alcove in a Japanese home that serves as a focal point for art and other aesthetics, often seasonal.

Enthusiasts turn their noses up at things like magazine editors proudly showing off, saying “How about that? Pretty amazing, huh?” They reject it outright. Even if they don’t go so far as to reject it, they push back. That’s what enthusiasts are like. Editors just don’t get this enthusiastic psychology, do they? Deep within the heart of every enthusiast lies a passionately hidden, profound, and poignant desire that no editor could ever understand. I don’t expect you to understand all those painful desires. I won’t ask you to understand, that’s too much to ask, but I do want you to come closer. (Far from drawing closer, it only grows more distant…) I’ve gone off on a tangent again. I should stop complaining. The “SM photography” we favor is more about emotion and sentiment than acrobatically displaying a woman’s crotch. Let’s return to the seventy-year-old bondage photographs I had enlarged at the sex museum. (Come to think of it, back then, the term “bondage photography” didn’t even exist yet. They were simply called “punishment photos.”) The woman, stripped bare from the waist up with tattoos covering her shoulders and arms, was bound behind her back with a single rope. The way her arms are bound high up on her back has a masochistic intensity that’s unbearably good. That’s the best part of this photo. Though the camera angle hides the wrists, the upper arm is twisted high behind the back. This arm position alone clearly shows the severity of the takate kote technique. Naturally, the woman’s upper body is bent forward, radiating genuine masochism, not something fabricated. In my view, this is the beauty of masochism. The reason I call it “artificial” is that when I look at what is currently called bondage photography, the photographer’s and director’s instruction and guidance to the model are far too detailed and cumbersome, constraining the model’s natural bodily reactions and causing the raw masochism to be lost. The model is restrained from moving freely, moving and posing only as directed by the photographer. To be restrained in movement is to be restrained in spirit. You are nothing but a puppet manipulated by the cameraman.

No matter how convincingly a doll strikes a pose, it remains nothing more than a “contrived creation” directed by the photographer, incapable of evoking the masochistic beauty that captivates enthusiasts. The ropes binding the tattooed woman are crossed over her neck and chest, extending from under her armpits to her back. Only one rope is tied around her arm. This rope arrangement was likely designed to avoid obscuring the carefully drawn tattoo. Though the rope’s presence is subtle, a single strand achieves maximum effect. The model’s expression and the pose, with her upper body bent forward and contorted, perfectly showcase the excellence of this bondage. I’m glad it’s not one of those overly elaborate, gimmicky binding styles you see so often these days, with an excessive amount of rope. Actually, I don’t really like “bondage” with lots of ropes. That sort of thing is a sham. I prefer ropes that can be effectively used with just one strand. Using a single rope to bind someone’s hands securely behind their back is more sadistic. Allow me to offer a brief explanation here. I have produced countless bondage photographs and bondage videos over the years. I carelessly wrote “countless,” but I actually counted up to five thousand times. When it exceeded that, I stopped counting. I finally understood that no matter how many I tied up, it was worthless. Whether I hired actresses and models by the thousands or tens of thousands to be tied up, it wasn’t real “bondage.” I finally understood that. That sort of thing is ultimately just a display of tying techniques. In the course of such filming work, I, too, have tied quite a lot of elaborate ropes. (It just occurred to me: there isn’t a single photo of Minomura Kou using elaborate rope work. He consistently used minimal ropes, focusing on clean, well-formed, powerful, and emotionally resonant bondage. Moreover, photographers of this era fundamentally possessed an attitude focused on expressing the “heart” of the bound model, rather than the quantity of the ropes applied. Neither the magazine editors nor the photographers of this time harbored any desire to capture the hearts of enthusiasts through sheer rope count. Everyone understood that the number of ropes and the beauty of surrender are

never proportional. What must be expressed above all is the “heart” of the woman being bound; her surrender.) Here is my defense. Even if I make excuses now, it won’t make much difference, but I’d like to offer an explanation anyway. The excessive amount of rope I occasionally use is not actually my own choice. I am only using so much rope because of orders from the sponsor behind me. In most cases, my employer, that is, my sponsor, is not a pure enthusiast. They believe that the more ropes tied around a woman, the more impressive the bondage is. They lack the sense that the more ropes there are, the less impactful the true power of bondage becomes. But even if I told them that, they wouldn’t understand. I tend to comply with this sort of orders from employers relatively meekly and faithfully. Unless something extraordinary happens, I tie the ropes exactly as instructed. Part of me doesn’t want them to think I dislike tying many ropes because it’s troublesome and requires too much effort. My employer is also someone important who pays me. I try to comply with their requests as much as possible. And then there’s another thing, I have a secret pride. A single rope is enough to beautifully restrain a woman’s body. Any more becomes wasteful, superfluous. Yet I add ropes, driven by the desire to show off the techniques of binding (if I may call it an art) that prevents them from looking like unnecessary, wasteful ropes. Following the sponsor’s orders, I apply rope after rope, sometimes as many as twenty, to a single woman’s body. I tie it on, thinking this rope is useless for restraint. It’s a fake, showy binding technique, but whether this useless rope looks useless or not is entirely up to the viewers to decide. The expression “usoppachi” caught my attention. Having been born and raised in Tokyo’s downtown area, I sometimes unconsciously use old downtown slang passed down from my parents. Since it doesn’t always get understood, I looked it up in the dictionary. It was actually there. Usoppachi: A term emphasizing a lie. A blatant lie. (Obunsha Japanese Dictionary) Ah, I’ve gone off on a tangent again.

I wasn’t supposed to write this. I was in the midst of writing about the seventy-year-old punishment photographs hidden away in the sex industry museum. Let’s get back to the original topic. The tattooed woman being tormented by the thuggish-looking gangster is by no means beautiful. Her breasts, as far as can be seen in the photo, are small. Though it’s hard to tell clearly because she’s posed slightly face-down, they appear to be poorly shaped. No matter how you look at it, her physique doesn’t seem particularly attractive. But that’s okay. Compared to today’s “bondage photography,” with its meticulously applied makeup, voluptuous breasts and buttocks, and deliberately provocative poses, the bound form of this tattooed woman, physically frail as she is, possesses a far more profoundly SM quality, a deeper emotional resonance, and a more potent eroticism. She truly has the air of a woman being punished. There’s an authentic aura of masochism about her. From this old photograph, you can see that photographers and editors would say things like: “Do this, do that.” “Turn this way, turn that way” “Spread your legs, show more between your thighs” I don’t hear any such instructions. I can’t hear it, so it’s fine. Photos where we can almost hear the flippant instructions of non-enthusiasts barking orders at models only make us feel cold. We don’t want people who aren’t enthusiasts to get all excited. We want to tell them: don’t pretend to understand when you don’t. More than cameramen, more than editors, more than video directors, we enthusiasts possess a far deeper passion for “bondage.” They have no idea how deep our passion runs.

The yakuza man and tattooed woman appearing in this old photograph were probably actors in what we’d now call a popular theater troupe. The travelling troupe of actors at that time were contracted by enthusiasts of “punishment” to perform such plays. They were, of course, aware they would be photographed. Dedicated enthusiasts convey the general storyline to the actors, who then perform it with all their might. For actors of that era, such stories were second nature. “The restraints, however, won’t be the kind of theatrical restraints you always impose on stage. I’ll handle them myself, I want you to leave that to me.” That’s surely what the leader among the amateur photographers said to the actors. Of course, the actors understood. And then, being the enthusiast he was, he grabbed the rope and, with excitement and anticipation, bound the tattooed woman, played by the actress, with her hands tied high behind her back. (I know this from experience. The excitement and pleasure of restraining a woman you’ve just met under these circumstances is beyond description.)

The practice of commissioning travelling theater troupes to photograph such a “punishment scene” for enthusiast groups began in the era of Itoh Seiu and appears to have occurred several times thereafter. Given the nature of the subject matter, these types of photo sessions were conducted in strict secrecy, leaving no accurate records behind. The old photographs now treasured in the sex museum are among them. Actually, I also have photographs of this kind taken during that era. I wrote a bit about those circumstances in my paperback book “‘Kitan Club’ and Its Surroundings,” published by Kawade Shobo Shinsha. Those interested may wish to refer to it. In a pamphlet titled “KK News32 ” published on October 1, 1953, there is a passage written by Itoh Seiu about when he contracted with a travelling troupe to stage a “shame KK is a common shorthand for Kitan Club.

play33 .” I have already introduced this in the Kawade Bunko publication, “The Illustrators of ‘Kitan Club,’” and though it is redundant, I will write it again as necessary. On the “Theater of Shame” by Itoh Seiu (From KK News, Issue 13) The first performance was held on June 4th at the Suzumoto Entertainment Hall in Ichikawa City. Despite the heavy rain and wind that day, which kept many away, it achieved results beyond expectations. The second performance was held on the second Saturday, July 11th, at the Nakamura-za in Higashikatamachi, Bunkyo Ward. Several well-known individuals attended as members. The program featured the first act of “Bancho Sarakura-shiki Tetsuzankan” and added a sentimental story by Hayashiya Shozo. The photo shows the front of the stage. Next month’s performance is scheduled for the second Sunday, again at the same venue. We will stage three acts of “Yokohama Kibun: Shin Shiraishi Monogatari.” Given the peak of summer heat, and at the members’ request for snow and water torture scenes, we constructed a rather elaborate well on stage (digging a pit about ten shaku34 deep beneath the stage and installing a long bucket and rope). For the onnagata35 wig we employed a technique called kakemono: the Shimada topknot is deliberately disheveled; the original knot is cut to create scattered hair, and then a generous amount of water is poured over it. For O-kiku in Sarayashiki, we followed the historical account: after O-kiku is lowered into the well, we used copious amounts of blood-red dye to create a truly terrifying effect. The Nakamura-za theater is a small venue built by a friend of mine, seating about five hundred people (packed in tightly). It measures five ken36 wide, three ken deep, and eleven shaku high. Such a small theater is more convenient for our purposes, so we intend to hold performances there monthly going forward. Background production, prop carving, scriptwriting, directing, all done by me alone. On top of that, I even calligraphed the curtain. At seventy-two years old, my back started to ache a bit. Fortunately, members began arriving steadily each day, and we were fortunate to . A ken is five shaku, approximately 151.5 cm. An onnagata is a male actor in a female role. In tradition Kabuki, only males perform. Much like in classic Shakespear. A shaku is approximately 30.3 cm This term shame, 責め, also can mean torment, torture, or blame, is the same we use in semenawa.

have the likes of Edogawa Ranpo, Murakami Motozo, and Hasegawa Shin join us. Due to the unexpected expenses, we set the fee at three hundred yen per person, but starting next time, it will be five hundred yen. We will film at the venue, and it has been decided that this fee will include an average distribution of five stage photographs (cabinet prints) to each member. We are keeping the number of characters as small as possible to maximize the time spent on each role. We intend to increase the number of actresses to be punished going forward, but finding suitable ones is proving difficult. Actresses who merely put on a show are no good, so training them is proving quite a challenge. It’s what you might call “women and children37 .” That is all. A photograph of O-Kiku from “Sarayashiki,” bound hand-behind-back and suspended above a well, is attached to this text. O-Kiku’s hair is disheveled, styled as described in the explanation of the “casual” hairstyle. Incidentally, about twenty years later, a production of the “Sarayashiki” directed by Takechi Tetsuji was staged at the Shimbashi Enbujo theater. I wrote about that viewing experience in the magazine “Uramado” at the time. This was the “Sarayashiki” from the “Jitsuetsu” version of Itoh Seiu, and since it was directed by Takechi, it used copious amounts of fake blood and real water, making it a gruesome scene of torment. Apart from “Jitsuetsu,” Okamoto Kido’s “Bancho Sarayashiki” is frequently staged. However, this is a strangely pedantic pure love story based on a new interpretation, and I find it utterly uninteresting. There are no ghosts, nor is there a “scene of torment.” Incidentally, I should mention that I wrote a historical novel titled “The Mysterious O-Kiku Insect,” based on the legend of O-Kiku of Sarayashiki, under the pen name Yagiri Shuhachi for the magazine “Uramado.” At the end of that novel, I introduced several Sarayashiki legends still preserved throughout Japan today. This novel can also be read at the Sex Industry Museum. “Women and Children” is a reference to a Confucian saying from Analects 17:20 and 6:29: “Women and children are difficult to raise,” referring to the difficulty of instilling women and children with virtuous values. In this context, Itoh Seiu is almost certainly expressing frustration at trying to find actresses who respond to punishment in a natural way, rather than putting on an act.

Itoh Seiu wrote that in June 1953 he performed “Sarayashiki” at the Suzumoto Theater in Ichikawa City. I have not seen this version of “Sarayashiki” directed by Itoh Seiu, but I did see “The Burning” (written by Suzuki Sensaburo) at the Suzumoto Theater in Ichikawa City, also organized by Itoh Seiu. Moreover, I happened to sit next to him in the audience. The theater’s seating area was laid out in the old style with tatami mats. At that time, I was twenty-three years old. I have written in some detail about my memory of watching that famous “The Burning” alongside Itoh Seiu in Kawade Bunko’s “The Illustrators of ‘Kitan Club.’” Those who are interested, I hope you will read it. And on July 11, 1953, the second Saturday of the month (meaning it was likely a one-day-only performance), Itoh Seiu performed “Sarayashiki” at Nakamura-za in Higashikatamachi, Bunkyo Ward. (Higashikatamachi is pronounced “Higashikatamachi.” The place name Higashikatamachi is no longer found today, but the town name Nishikatamachi remains.) The following month, on the second Sunday of July, the same Nakamura-za theater staged a play titled “Yokohama Kibun Shin Siraishi Monogatari.” (This is read as “Yokohama Kibun: The Story of the White Stone.” I’d like to say a little about this play too, but doing so would lead me down yet another tangent and I’d never get back on track, so I’ll skip it.) Since it was a play created and directed by Itoh Seiu, the content would have featured ample scenes of punishment. And the actors hired by Itoh Seiu were undoubtedly well aware of this, performing exactly as he directed. I’ve always been deeply curious about the existence of the Nakamura-za, a small theater in Hongo and Higashikatamachi that has now vanished without a trace. The figures appearing in the old 6x6 cm punishment photographs now housed in the Sex Museum seem to me to be none other than the actors who performed at the Nakamura-za. In Itoh Seiu’s article “Regarding the ‘Shame Theater Troupe” for KK News, it states: “The Nakamura-za theater troupe was founded by my friend,” and further: “We keep the number of characters to a minimum and maximize the time spent on torment. We intend to increase the number of actresses to be punished, but it’s quite difficult to find suitable ones. Actresses who merely put on a show are no good, so training them is proving quite a challenge.”

I can’t help but feel that the actresses appearing here have some connection to Nakamura-za. The theater owner is said to be a friend of Itoh Seiu. (That’s precisely why they could dig a hole about ten feet deep beneath the stage and lower a long bucket into it. Normally such construction work would be impossible.) And they could probably have borrowed actors performing at the theater. I had recently learned about the existence of Nakamura-za, which I had been curious about for some time. Actually, I wanted to write about that earlier in this installment, but as usual, I’m a chatterbox and kept getting sidetracked, so it got delayed. I’ll write about that next time.