Translator’s Note: When we explore the history of Kinbaku and Japanese SM (the two are inseparable, in reality), we have a tendency to focus on the legends of bondage themselves. Names like Minomura Ko, Nureki Chimuo, Akechi Denki and many others.
But equally important are the models, both amateur and professional, that help shaped the content and the shape of the culture of Japanese SM. From Kitan Club to Roman videos, and to the modern era of Japanese AVs, each model provides a unique canvas in expression and feeling, and without them, Japanese SM may have never evolved out of primarily reader submission magazines.
Hiromi Saotome is a legendary model in the Japanese SM world. First staring in adult films in 1983, she participated in one of her first magazine shoots in the same year, for a magazine called SM Mania. The production involved herself, Nureki Chimuo, and Sugiura Norio.
These are the translations of her blog, located here (https://note.com/saotome6) talking about her history with Nureki. It is my honor to have them published on Kinbaku Today.
By Hiromi Saotome
August 22, 2020
With 60 years of experience in the SM industry, the late Nureki Chimuo was devoted to bondage and rope work.
Nureki: “The ‘rope’ I use for bondage is just a piece of rope, it has no emotions of its own. But what breathes the beauty of masochism into it is my own passion as I use that rope to bind. It’s the trinity of my passion, a photographer who can sense it, and a sensitive model who loves rope, that’s what creates great work. Don’t you agree?”
As I wrote previously in the “Kinbaku Models” section, the second half of the photo shoot for Sanwa Publishing’s “SM Mania” involved a sex scene with the editor. Deep down, I hated this shoot because it strayed from bondage. I’d gone to the trouble of being tied up, enveloped in a state of bliss, and immersed in my own world, but the moment it turned into a sex scene, it all came crashing down. That’s because bondage is a mental pleasure, while sex is a physical one, they’re completely different. Personally, I don’t need physical pleasure while I’m tied up. I’d glance over at Mr. Nureki, hoping he’d wrap this part up quickly, but he’d made himself so inconspicuous I couldn’t even tell if he was there or not. I remember feeling sad. To put it a bit selfishly, I felt like, “He was watching me so intently, and yet he abandoned me.” I felt this way every time we shot, but I couldn’t refuse. If I refused, I’d lose this bondage modelling job. That would be even lonelier. So, trying my best to be a “good model,” I went along with the sex scenes.
It was less than a year after I’d me Mr. Nureki. Mr. Nureki, who was always smiling and cracking jokes, suddenly became serious and asked, “Saotome, what do you really like best?” I wanted to tell him I hated the sexual scenes, but I swallowed those words and replied, “I want to be left all alone, bound with my hands behind my back, in a dimly lit room.” Mr. Nureki then said, “I see! So you really are a woman who loves rope. I thought you were just the physical type, someone who likes being tied up as foreplay. I see. They say that women who truly love rope don’t like being sexually teased. They say that when that happens, it ruins the pleasure of the rope.” I was happy. I felt that everything I’d wanted to say had come across. And I was relieved that the pleasure I felt from bondage wasn’t wrong (though there’s no such thing as right or wrong when it comes to sex).
1985. Mr. Nureki, who had largely withdrawn from the SM magazine industry, launched his own group, the “Kinbaku Beauty Research Society.” At the time, other rope artists were also establishing their own groups. It was still the bubble of the economy era. Since participation fees were relatively high, some groups compensated by having models pose completely nude to increase the level of exposure, and there were even some that allowed customers to engage in activities bordering on sexual play. However, the Kinbaku Beauty Research Society, commonly known as “Kinbiken,” remained thoroughly committed to the beauty of rope bondage.
Monthly meetings were held. To participate in a meeting, one first had to speak directly with Mr. Nureki by the phone the day before. You’d be bombarded with questions, whether you’d seen the videos or photo spreads he supervised, what aspects of SM you enjoyed, and whether you’d seen the Kinbiken videos or the newsletter “Kinbiken Tsushin” produced over the course of the group’s meetings, among other things. Later, a regular member laughed as he said, “That phone call really made me break out in a cold sweat. Even though it was just a phone call, it felt like he could see right through me. It was like an interrogation.”
Nureki: “Well, it’s only natural to be thorough. When someone who’s even slightly out of place joins a group where everyone is seriously pursuing the beauty of bondage, it ruins the atmosphere. At other photo sessions, they seem to pander quite a bit to the customers, but I don’t allow any crotch exposure or vibrators whatsoever. So when a first-timer calls, I tell them, ‘We don’t do any of that here, so it’ll be boring for you.’”
The participants who passed Mr. Nureki’s “interrogation” had gathered from all over the country. Many brought along clippings from old magazine spreads, saying, “This pose is my favorite.” While fetishism varies widely from person to person, everyone shares the common ground of bondage, so the conversation never runs dry. In the early days of the regular meetings, the models were rope enthusiasts who had met Mr. Nureki’s high standards. Among them, Yuri Haruhara, who runs the group, model Naomi Sugishita, and I were the three regular models known as the “Three Sisters.”
As the meetings continued, we began receiving inquiries from ordinary women as well, and we invited them to participate as models. As a woman, when you attend a gathering like this, you have to consider the risks. On the surface, they claim it’s safe, but what’s the reality? I imagine they worried even more than women do today, wondering, for example if they would make it home safely. Still, I think they wanted to confront themselves regarding their own quirks. And when I see those women, I think to myself, “They’re so brave, so amazing. If it were me, even if I wanted to go, I probably wouldn’t have been able to make that phone call.” It’s not just about the risks. It’s about my own introverted personality. If I hadn’t clung to this job, I probably wouldn’t have been able to realize a single one of my dreams.
