Nureki Chimuo Archive

“Though this is but a farce, I humbly offer my opening remarks (ヽ).”

In old plays, this would be the moment when the actor stepped out from behind the curtain at center stage, knelt in seiza, and bowed deeply with hands clasped toward the audience seats.

In other words, this passage suddenly shifts to a scene unrelated to the previous one.

While I’ve been rambling on about events from over sixty years ago, the reality of my daily life now keeps racing ahead.

Fearing I might miss the right moment if I didn’t write this now, I hastily declared, “Though the play is still in progress…”

For others, these may be mere trifles of everyday life, but for me, they are events I wish to preserve in my memory.

So, I will set aside for now the subsequent events with Ichimura Masako, the addition of the kabuki actor Tobei Kataoka to the Public Relations Troupe, and how, after the war ended, Tobei invited me to join the troupe at Tsurukame Theater. Instead, I shall write a little about the present.

One reason I began writing this “Talking Theater” was to record my time at the Tsurukame Theater. Yet, as my consciousness returns to events from over sixty years ago, new stimuli appear before me every single day.

And, just as quickly, they vanish into the past.

If I don’t jot them down immediately, they flit past my nose, and the moment I take a few steps away, I forget them.

Even if I don’t forget them, the impact fades with time, and the impressions become vague.

Well, most things are fine to forget, but there are some I want to record.

So, the story suddenly shifts away from both the Tsurukame Theater and the Public Relations Theater Company to the present.

I am currently writing a serialized essay titled “Dear Editor, This is Nureki Chimuo, Your Bondage Specialist” for a bimonthly magazine called “SM Net”.

It’s still early in the series, but in the fourth installment, I wrote something a bit closer to my true feelings.

It’s the truth about my current state of mind.

The gist is as follows.

On the shoot, the current bondage specialist mostly just demonstrates the procedure for tying a woman’s body with rope, or the superficial form of bondage.

They consider that sufficient.

Since the recent models are almost exclusively women who enjoy being tied up, even if it’s just for show, the moment rope touches their bodies, they react immediately, becoming intoxicated, forgetting any sense of shame, and plunging into their own sexual pleasures.

Well, if you want to be honest, they are honest. If you want to call it straightforward, it is straightforward.

Throwing aside pride and shame, rolling their eyes back,and shamelessly drowning in their own pleasure, video production companies seize the moment to film and commercialize this image of such M-women, inserting foreign objects into their genitals and boasting that this is SM. I no longer consider such things stimulating SM, and frankly, I don’t even want to see them anymore.

For bondage enthusiasts who enjoy videos, what’s truly stimulating isn’t the woman who becomes docile and joyfully submissive just by seeing ropes in front of her. It’s the woman who, when ropes approach her body, suddenly senses danger, trembles with fear, rejects the loathsome act of being bound, and shows resistance.

(This is where the element that first stirs the bondage enthusiast’s mind with a strange excitement and builds it up to a peak lies.)

The sadistic process of subduing that trembling, fearful woman’s resistance, applying the ropes, and binding her up (along with her sorrow-filled expression of resignation and her body writhing in fleeting agony) is precisely where the pleasure of SM, the exquisite taste of bondage, resides.

The presence or absence of this “subtle charm” is precisely what determines whether an SM video sells as a product or not.

Without scene capturing this subtle charm, a man holding ropes to bind a woman is nothing more than a mere service provider for masochistic women to satisfy their desires.

A bondage specialist is nothing more than a servant who performs the troublesome task of tying ropes for the pleasure of masochistic women, providing only labor.

To put it bluntly, they are like slaves existing solely for the woman’s pleasure.

That’s why I call myself a “bondage specialist” rather than a “rope master.”

A bondage specialist is the lowly job of a man who devotes himself solely to giving pleasure to a dominatrix who enjoys stimulation from ropes (or perhaps not even ropes). (Put cynically, that’s how it is.)

Even if you turned this raw reality into a commercial video, it wouldn’t please today’s discerning bondage enthusiasts with their specialized tastes.

(It might be welcomed at first, but enthusiasts’ nerves are sensitive. It simply won’t last.)

If it doesn’t please them, it won’t sell as a product.

Watching the SM publishing industry decline is, after all, a sad thing.

I hope it survives and continues, in whatever form it takes.

With that in mind, I proposed to the editorial department of “SM Net”: “I will create scenes imbued with my passion, scenes where I intensely bind the female form, scenes where the ropes alone possess sufficient power and intensity, scenes that could be considered the origin of hardcare bondage for enthusiasts. Would your magazine like to photograph them?”

“And then, would you please include that footage in your magazine's lengthy supplementary DVD? Even just ten minutes, or five minutes would be fine. I absolutely guarantee it will delight true bondage enthusiasts.” This was my request.

The supplementary DVD runs nearly three hours long.

I turned that proposal into a manuscript and had it published as the fourth installment of “Dear Editor, This is Nureki Chimuo, Bondage Specialist.”

But to cut to the chase, this proposal was not accepted.

First, I received a phone call from the editor in charge, and we discussed the matter.

“The manuscript for the fourth installment is truly wonderful, very much in the style of Nureki-san. We will publish it as is. I will explain our position, why we cannot accommodate your request, in a note following your manuscript. Please review the proof copy,” Mr. K, the editor in charge, said to me.

A couple of days later, the proof copy arrived by fax.

I read it immediately.

Following my manuscript, Mr. K’s text precisely and concisely explained why the editorial department could not realize the five-minute intense bondage scene I had proposed.

After reading it once, I was convinced.

Even though I had passionately advocated for it, the editorial department’s position, the reasons why they could not produce the bondage footage I had envisioned, were explained sincerely and succinctly.

What I appreciated most was that they accurately understood the feelings of someone like me, a member of the bondage enthusiast community.

I had met Mr. K several times even before starting the serialized manuscript, and his sincere character had always been pleasing to my heart.

This sincerity included his sometimes seemingly austere attitude toward SM itself.

I was deeply moved by how he honestly and unadornedly expressed his position as the magazine’s editor and his own feeling within that limited space.

If you wish to read my fourth installment of the serialized piece “Dear Editor, This is Nureki Chimuo, Your Bondage Specialist,” titled “I Want to Show You the True Beauty of Bondage,” along with Mr. K’s response to it, please look for and purchase the magazine, “SM Net” at your local bookstore.

You cannot view the included DVD supplement unless you purchase and own the magazine.

Watching this lengthy DVD will help you understand the sentiment behind my writing “I Want to Show the True Beauty of Bondage.”

That said, this is by no means to imply the content of this DVD is poor.

Far from it. Any ordinary person who sees it will absolutely find it fascinating. They’ll likely find themselves gripping their hands in excitement.

It possesses an extremely intense, overwhelming power.

(In that sense, I still consider this a type of abnormal imagery.)

Scenes that feel like the climaxes of each work, carefully selected new footage from various production companies, unfold one after another, brilliantly, like a showcase.

Scenes where the body is restrained, legs spread wide apart (or spread by the model herself), and phallic vibrators or other foreign objects are inserted into the genitals unfold with overwhelming force.

Scenes of humiliation by male performers also continue, of course.

While formulaic, a lavish number of young women, beautifully and lovingly made up, appear one after another, spreading their lower bodies to reveal nearly all of their genitals.

Of course, the central part of the genitals is blurred.

Perhaps the blurring makes the whole scene seem even more erotic.

To reiterate, if you watch this supplementary DVD, I believe those of you who are bondage enthusiasts will understand my desire to “show the true beauty of bondage.”

The color photographs featured in this magazine also effectively and beautifully showcase the climax scenes from each company’s videos, laid out in a masterful manner.

In the high standards of this layout, I sense the taste and skill of this magazine’s editors.

Two days after I proofread my manuscript and Mr. K’s reply, I received a call from Yuri Sunohara at Fuji Planning.

“I’d like to revive the Kinbiken Research Group soon. Would you like to meet for a discussion sometime soon?” I agreed.

Though I haven’t met her yet and don’t know the specifics of how it will take shape, Yuri’s words were filled with extraordinary passion.

In our world, passion is everything.

Without passion, you’re as good as nothing.

I have a feeling my earnest desire to “show the true beauty of bondage” is slowly starting to move towards becoming a reality.

It feels like the day is approaching again when true bondage enthusiasts will gather, and I’ll demonstrate bondage restraint techniques using a model.

Speaking of which, on the Fuji Planning blog I’ve been writing a series titled “Nureki Chimuo’s Secret Bondage Stories,” and it’s already reached its seventy-third installment. Reading this might give you some insight into the future direction of the Kinbiken revival.

Comment from Mika Suzume *Thoughts on the 73rd Talking Theater* February 3, 2009 15:03

Sensei, it’s Mika.

It’s been a while since we talked about SM bondage, hasn’t it?

I’ve been thoroughly enjoying reading about your time with Ms. Ichimura Masako in the “Public Relations Troupe,” your days as a member of the Tsurukame Theater troupe after the war, and your youthful memories. However, since I, Mika, have no background in theater, I haven’t been able to offer any comments.

This time, since it’s about SM, I think I’ll write a long comment for the first time in ages.

“These days, it’s unlikely to please the sharp-minded bondage enthusiasts with their particular tastes.”

That’s exactly right.

Even if I am not a bondage enthusiast, I believe any SM enthusiast would find SM without “torment” boring. I think you would understand, Sensei. SM enthusiasts derive pleasure from tormenting others or being tormented themselves. It’s a sadistic (though I dislike

using the word) hobby. And precisely because they are aware that finding sexual pleasure in such acts makes them sadists, they possess timid and delicate nerves.

So while I insist "torment" is essential, that “torment” mustn’t be genuinely cruel or grim. That kind of thing makes me sense impending ruin and feel revulsion.

Even though they despise real “torment,” if the M submits without resistance or refusal, discarding any pride or shame as you describe, rolling their eyes back and wallowing shamelessly in their own pleasure, then the “torment” itself disappears. That kind of SM holds no interest and excites me not at all.

That said, I even feel anger toward SM where the “bullying” itself is genuine and the M genuinely dislikes it.

I don’t get excited without the act of “bullying,” but I also don’t get excited when the act of “bullying” is genuine.

This is where things get misaligned when talking with people who don’t understand this hobby. For SM enthusiasts (at least for me), “bullying” must not exist, yet must also not be absent.

I find the appeal of SM precisely on that fine line between genuine torment and fake torment. It’s contradictory. Genuine torment is no good, yet fake torment is also no good. But I believe that’s the true form of realistic SM play that’s permissible while maintaining a social life.

Of course, in fiction or AV videos, artificial creations, even settings where someone genuinely seems repulsed are perfectly fine. In fact, I prefer SM scenes filled with masochism where someone reacts to such settings with genuine disgust and tears. But in recent AV videos, you sometimes see women playing the M role who look genuinely repulsed, even to the point of sniffling, and I really don’t want to see that kind of footage.

“Subduing the trembling woman’s resistance, binding her with ropes, restraining her, it is with this sadistic process (and the woman’s sorrowful expression of resignation and her body writhing in fleeting agony) that the pleasure of SM, the exquisite taste of bondage truly lies.”

That’s exactly it.

The appeal of SM lies in this very fine line.

The M-woman’s resistance shouldn’t be genuine refusal, nor is it interesting if she actively seeks pleasure.

The phrase “a face filled with sorrowful resignation and a body writhing in fleeting agony” captures it perfectly, but what I find truly fascinating is precisely this fragile state of the submissive, a state that banishes the moment it tilts even slightly in either direction.

Many rope artists can create complex bindings that guide a woman to sexual pleasure, but few of them see through the truth. They are merely servants providing labor, performing tedious rope work solely for the M woman’s pleasure.

There’s a term, “Service S,” stemming from the view that the S should be a servant to the M’s pleasure. But if taken too far, that Service S becomes Slave S.

In such SM, where the S merely does what the M wants done to them with care, like a slave serving their master, the very essence of “torment” vanishes entirely.

If there is no “torment”, can M truly exist there?

For me, even if someone playing the M role in such SM indulges shamelessly in her own pleasure, she doesn’t sense the presence of the M in her demeanor.

Seeing such an M, I find it more pathetic than enviable.

And as for those S who approve of this kind of SM, this pleasure-seeking type, I can’t help but wonder why they bother with complex rope work and all this effort.

Of course, I don’t think it’s right for the S to lack a spirit of service or consideration, but that isn’t for the M to wallow shamelessly in pleasure. It must be to prevent refusal or resistance from turning into genuine disgust.

If SM contained no torment and only the pleasure of the M role existed, then the M role wouldn’t possess M’s pleasure either.

The joy of the M is such a fleeting, quiet presence.

It would be difficult to capture that on film, but that’s what SM enthusiasts, including M’s like me, want to see.

Thank you, Mika Suzume-san. Please feel free to share your thoughts after reading it.