KINBAKU RESEARCH PLATFORM
Kinbaku Timeline
A chronology of people, publications, images, ideas, and practices documented in the Japanese SM Magazine Archive.
Dates and appearances describe material currently documented in the archive. They should not be read as claims of absolute historical first occurrence.
November 1947
The November 1947 Kitan Club is an early postwar issue whose editorial identity is already recognizable as a mixture of sexological curiosity, ethnographic speculation, urban reportage, erotic humor, medical discussion, folklore, and accounts of…
View in archive →Worship of the Genitals and the Sexual Spirit: A Study of Folk Toys, Part 1
A folkloric study of genital worship and the sexual spirit, examining phallic and female sexual symbols in folk toys, shrine objects, village rituals, and fertility customs. The article compares regional and historical examples, linking…
View in archive →Collection of Erotic Curiosities from Various Provinces
A collection of erotic curiosities gathered from different Japanese provinces, describing unusual sexual customs, shrine-related objects, folk practices, and anecdotes. The piece emphasizes regional variation in erotic culture and includes discussion of changing social…
View in archive →The Frappé Dance That Intoxicates Spectators
An observational essay on the Frappé dance, describing its alluring choreography, suggestive bodily movements, costumes, and the intense fascination it produces among spectators. The author considers how the performance balances playful elegance, erotic display,…
View in archive →An Obstetrician-Gynecologist's View of the Times: ABC
An obstetrician-gynecologist discusses contemporary sexual attitudes and behavior through three illustrative cases identified as A, B, and C. The article approaches these matters from a reproductive-medical and social perspective, with accompanying explanatory illustrations.
View in archive →The Rubber Raincoat Fetish
A discussion of fetishistic attraction to rubber raincoats, focusing on the garment’s distinctive appearance, texture, smell, and the unusual fantasies or compulsive behavior it can evoke. The article presents the subject as a form…
View in archive →Erotic Pictures and Prohibition
An editorial discussion of erotic pictures examines their circulation, the authorities’ attempts to suppress them, and the uneasy boundary between obscenity, artistic expression, and public morality. It also reflects on the continuing demand for…
View in archive →The Science of Kissing and the Oral Cavity
A medical discussion of kissing that examines the oral cavity, oral cleanliness, and the bodily and psychological conditions involved in kissing. The article combines physiological explanation with practical observations about oral hygiene and intimate…
View in archive →The Counterfeit Circumcision Specialist
An exposé recounts the activities of a bogus circumcision specialist who presents himself as medically skilled while deceiving clients. The piece treats the episode as an example of medical quackery and fraud surrounding intimate…
View in archive →A Scene from 1948: The Speed Age
A humorous series of imagined 1948 vignettes portrays everyday life in a rapidly accelerating “speed age,” using dialogues set in urban spaces such as department stores, cinemas, streetcars, and busy streets. The feature satirizes…
View in archive →Pink-Tinted Social Conditions
A lightly comic collection of male-female exchanges sketches the flirtation, dating behavior, and sexualized etiquette associated with “pink” social conditions. Its conversational format emphasizes changing gender relations and the social performance of courtship.
View in archive →Conto: One Difference
A short fictional conte centered on a narrator’s observations and an encounter in an urban back-street setting, where a small but significant difference becomes the story’s central contrast.
View in archive →Kitan Gossip
A gossip column presenting short, suggestive anecdotes about nightlife, entertainers, romantic entanglements, and sexual behavior. Its conversational reports and personal episodes emphasize rumor, scandal, and the circulation of intimate stories.
View in archive →Pink Curiosities and Worldly Tales
A sensational miscellany of sexual and medical curiosities, including reports of an attempted assault, sexual scandal, and a young girl brought to hospital with gonorrhea. The page combines brief worldly anecdotes with an accompanying…
View in archive →Shanghai's Den of Vice
A reportage-style account of Shanghai’s “den of vice,” describing its nightlife districts, bars, dance venues, brothels, prostitution, and the varied people drawn into the city’s postwar entertainment world. The feature combines social observation with…
View in archive →A Night in Osaka Picked Up on the Kanazuka Highway
A first-person night report along the Kanazuka Highway in Osaka, recounting encounters with street women, male customers, entertainers, and other figures moving between lodging houses, restaurants, and theaters. The illustrated feature presents the nighttime…
View in archive →Flowers of Vice in the Pleasure Quarter
A social report on Osaka’s postwar pleasure districts, describing the women working in and around entertainment quarters, street solicitation, changing nightlife, and the economic pressures shaping these spaces. It surveys areas including Dōtonbori, Abeno,…
View in archive →The Crisis of the Unmarried Woman Over Thirty
An essay examines the social and emotional difficulties faced by women who remain unmarried beyond thirty, discussing marriage prospects, sexual and domestic expectations, and the pressures placed on single women. It contrasts women’s situations…
View in archive →The Fox Spirit and Fox Possession
A folklore essay surveys Japanese beliefs about fox spirits and fox possession, combining traditional supernatural lore with anecdotes of apparent possession and exorcistic or ritual responses. It presents the fox as both a shape-shifting…
View in archive →Erotic Rakugo: Katsunotsugi
A bawdy rakugo tale presented through comic dialogue and anecdotal storytelling, centering on sexual and marital misunderstandings in a historical Japanese setting. The piece uses the conventions of oral performance to turn erotic situations…
View in archive →Curious Talk: An Object for Personal Use
An essay investigates the historical meaning of “objects for personal use,” tracing the term through literary references and advertisements for intimate articles. It discusses artificial sexual implements, their shapes and materials, and their use…
View in archive →Seven Children
A brief humorous dialogue presents a child’s puzzlement about family relationships and household arrangements, ending with a teasing parental response.
View in archive →The Taste of Human Flesh
A pseudo-scientific and ethnographic essay speculates about the flavor and tenderness of human flesh, comparing it with animal meats and referring to reports of cannibalism and travelers’ accounts.
View in archive →Floating-World Patterns: The City's Back Alleys
A series of anecdotal sketches set in the city’s hidden quarters, depicting encounters involving drinking, women, deception, and the precarious social world around illicit entertainment. The piece presents the urban back alleys as a…
View in archive →Y-Section Discussions: Arabesque
A discussion-format feature from the magazine’s “Y-section,” combining an anecdote about nightlife and sexual behavior with broader reflections and opinion prompts concerning intimate conduct, social attitudes, and sexual knowledge. Its participatory, conversational format treats…
View in archive →The Rampage of the Pink Terror
A sensational erotic-crime episode recounts a woman’s encounter with a threatening man, culminating in an attempted act of resistance with an improvised weapon. The narrative combines sexual menace, suspense, and physical struggle.
View in archive →Precocious Girls in the Age Revealed by Erotic Books
Gotō Fumio examines changing attitudes toward female sexuality by comparing modern girls with representations of women in erotic books from earlier periods. The essay discusses precocious sexual awareness, the weakening of traditional restraints, and…
View in archive →December 1947: Eccentrics and Abnormal People, No. 2
The December 1947 Kitan Club, identified on the cover and contents page as No. 2 and as an Eccentrics and Abnormal People issue, develops the magazine's early postwar fascination with unconventional sexuality, unusual personalities,…
View in archive →Sadism and Masochism Appear as Explicit Editorial Categories
The December 1947 issue presents separate features devoted to masochistic desire, sadistic desire, and fetishistic desire. Within the material currently documented by the archive, the issue provides unusually early evidence of these categories being…
Primary Evidence
Profiles of Eccentrics and Unusual People
A series of case sketches profiles eccentric and socially unconventional people, including women whose unusual habits, appearance, domestic arrangements, or obsessive interests set them apart from ordinary society. The text combines anecdotal observation with…
View in archive →Portraits of People with Abnormal Sexual Desires, Part 1
A case-study portrait of a person with an abnormal sexual compulsion involving spying on women in private or lavatory settings. The account follows the reported incident, its discovery and investigation, and the subject’s voyeuristic…
View in archive →Erotic Men's Amorous Conduct Records
A collection of sensational anecdotes records the amorous and erotic conduct of men and women, including encounters in bathhouses, lodging houses, theaters, and other urban settings. The piece emphasizes sexual curiosity, voyeurism, flirtation, and…
View in archive →Singapore's Side Streets Overflowing with Southern Atmosphere
A travel sketch of Singapore’s side streets, describing its tropical scenery, brightly colored buildings, waterfront settings, local streetscapes, and the atmosphere of its entertainment districts. The piece emphasizes the mixture of Southern warmth, exotic…
View in archive →A Nude Model Tells All
A first-person account of a nude model’s work, recounting how she entered modeling, posed for artists, and experienced the practical and personal pressures of the profession. The article discusses studio routines, artistic representations of…
View in archive →Portraits of People with Abnormal Sexual Desires, Part 2: Masochistic Desire
A case-study portrait of a man described as having masochistic sexual desires, including an attraction to humiliation, domination, and physical punishment. The narrative traces the development of these tendencies and their expression in relationships…
View in archive →Portraits of People with Abnormal Sexual Desires, Part 3: Sadistic Desire
A case portrait of a man whose sadistic sexual desire is expressed through coercion, physical abuse, and humiliating treatment of women. The account frames these acts within the periodical’s broader discussion of abnormal sexual…
View in archive →Worship of the Genitals and the Sexual Spirit: A Study of Folk Toys, Part 2
A folkloric study of genital worship and sexual spirituality, focusing on phallic stones, fertility symbols, shrine practices, and erotic folk toys. The article compares regional customs and considers how these objects function as religious…
View in archive →Exploring the Abnormal Life of Primitive Peoples
An anthropological survey of unusual sexual customs and beliefs attributed to primitive peoples, including initiation rites, genital modification, body decoration, sexual discipline, and fertility practices. The article also includes illustrative and anecdotal material depicting…
View in archive →A Certain Day in the Life of an Amorous Company President
A satirical illustrated account of a company president’s day, depicting his amorous pursuits and sexual encounters at different times and settings. The feature combines prose with sequential cartoon panels to present the businessman’s compulsive…
View in archive →Curious Business: The Matchmaking House
A reportage-style feature on a matchmaking and companion-brokering house that introduces men and women for romantic or sexual encounters. It describes the clients, intermediaries, appearance-based selection, and the commercial links between matchmaking, nightlife venues,…
View in archive →Portraits of People with Abnormal Sexual Desires, Part 4: Fetishistic Desire
A case portrait examining fetishistic desire through a man’s intense fixation on women’s clothing and bodily traces. The article describes how this fetish shapes his pursuit of garments and intimate objects, presenting the behavior…
View in archive →A Fourteen-Year-Old Girl Pregnant by a Customer
A case report about a fourteen-year-old girl who became pregnant by an unidentified customer, recounting her circumstances and the social and family consequences of the pregnancy. The article presents her as an example of…
View in archive →Her True Story: From Schoolteacher to the Night World
A case history of a young female teacher whose family circumstances deteriorate after her mother’s death and her brother’s remarriage. Isolated and seeking companionship, she enters Osaka’s nightlife and gradually falls from respectable teaching…
View in archive →The Dark Women's Ecology
A social-realist survey of women living in Osaka’s postwar night districts, describing street prostitution, cabaret and bar work, “pan-pan” women, and the economic hardship, loneliness, sexual exploitation, and family disruption associated with these lives.…
View in archive →Women Seen in a Panpan Lodging House
An observational report from a panpan lodging house, portraying the women who work there, their dealings with customers, and the precarious economic and emotional conditions surrounding their lives. It discusses relations with occupation-era soldiers…
View in archive →Tour of Foreign and Unusual Baths
Aoki Tomiji surveys unusual bathing customs and facilities in Japan and abroad, describing foreign baths, hot springs, public bathhouses, massage, bathing etiquette, and sexually charged or eccentric bathing practices. The article contrasts these customs…
View in archive →The Black-Market Woman's 100,000-Yen Savings
This postwar social-interest piece profiles a woman arrested during a crackdown in Ueno who had accumulated 100,000 yen through black-market and other precarious work. It presents her savings, circumstances, and lifestyle as an example…
View in archive →Confession of My Male Mistress
A first-person confession by a young commercial-school student who, after family hardship and economic dependence, becomes involved with an older, affluent woman. He describes the material comfort, domestic intimacy, dependency, and social unease surrounding…
View in archive →Edo Erotic Anecdote: The Handsome Customer
A comic Edo-period erotic anecdote about a handsome male customer and his encounter in a pleasure-house setting, using witty dialogue and sexual humor to play on his attractiveness and reputation.
View in archive →The Whereabouts of The Carnal Prayer Mat
A bibliographic essay tracing the transmission, translation, publication, and circulation of the Chinese erotic classic commonly known as The Carnal Prayer Mat in Japan. It discusses the rarity and whereabouts of surviving copies, past…
View in archive →Kitan Club, July 1950 Issue
The July 1950 issue of Kitan Club, identified in its publication information as the thirty-second collection, presents the magazine in an early postwar form that mixes sensational reportage, erotic and grotesque fiction, humorous miscellany,…
View in archive →The Streets of the Flesh
A photographic and illustrated survey of Japan’s urban pleasure districts, following streets lined with cafés, bars, lodging houses, bathhouses, and other establishments associated with commercial nightlife and sexual entertainment. Maps, storefront photographs, captions, and…
View in archive →A Collection of Japanese Erotic Tales
A sequential-art collection of erotic anecdotes depicting sexual encounters, illicit affairs, geisha and domestic settings, and negotiations between men and women. The episodes combine sensual imagery with comic dialogue and references to contraception, pregnancy…
View in archive →Strange Talks and Curious News
A wide-ranging miscellany of curious anecdotes, humorous correspondence, advice exchanges, relationship and sexual questions, dream interpretation, odd news, and illustrated comic scenes. The section also includes recreational features such as shogi problems, riddles, puzzles,…
View in archive →The Fallen Diseased Leaf
An illustrated melodramatic narrative follows Yasuko, a young woman whose relationships, marriage, economic hardship, and encounters with predatory or unreliable men lead her through emotional and sexual exploitation. The story presents her shifting attempts…
View in archive →God of Lust
An illustrated erotic fiction serial centers on Abudora, Imam, and their associates as jealousy, marital suspicion, deception, and sexual rivalry intensify through clandestine encounters. The narrative uses comic dialogue and sensational scenes to explore…
View in archive →Mermaid Manufacturing Den
A sensational pulp mystery set in Kobe follows a narrator who encounters a series of uncanny locations and criminal enterprises, including a green-lit house, a factory producing grotesque animals, and a secret workshop associated…
View in archive →Erotic Hell
A sensational crime narrative centered on abduction, sexual violence, captivity, and escape, presented in the lurid style of mid-century erotic true-crime fiction. The page also includes a boxed anecdote about a woman’s chastity belt,…
View in archive →The Truth About Temple Commerce: Osaka's Back Streets Swirling with Money and Sex
An investigative report on Osaka’s temple-district back streets, describing the entanglement of sexual commerce, installment schemes, dubious lending, fake real-estate and marriage introductions, and other forms of financial exploitation. Through reported cases and dialogues,…
View in archive →Three Tales of Dramatic Medicine
A feature on three dangerous or sensational drugs associated with postwar pleasure culture: illicit Hiropon (methamphetamine), Adorm sleeping pills and overdose or suicide attempts, and purported aphrodisiac products. The article combines reported incidents with…
View in archive →The Slothful Robber Appears
An illustrated comic sketch depicts a would-be robber confronting a woman in the street, with the encounter unfolding through exaggerated dialogue and slapstick reversals. The piece treats attempted robbery as humorous social satire rather…
View in archive →A Discussion of Male and Female Pickpockets
A nonfiction-style discussion examines male and female pickpockets in postwar Osaka, including estimates of criminal activity, gang organization, common targets, stealing techniques, and the changing economic conditions of the trade. It also uses reported…
View in archive →The Prostitute in the Cave
A wartime fiction set amid the fighting in Okinawa, where a Japanese soldier encounters a woman sheltering in a cave. Their tense, intimate exchange unfolds against bombardment, hunger, displacement, and the brutal collapse of…
View in archive →The Strange Tale of the Man Who Drinks a Lady's Urine
A grotesque short story about a man whose illness and unconventional treatment become entangled with his fixation on drinking a woman’s urine. The narrative presents urine drinking through a mixture of erotic fetishism, medical…
View in archive →A Collection of Japanese Erotic Tales
An anthology of short Japanese erotic tales combining marital and adulterous encounters with folklore, supernatural transformations, religious transgression, and tragic or violent consequences. The stories are framed as sensational historical and popular narratives rather…
View in archive →The Noblewoman Who Toys with a Virgin
An erotic fiction narrative centered on a socially superior woman who seduces and exercises power over an inexperienced young man. The illustrated story emphasizes sexual initiation, class hierarchy, manipulation, and the atmosphere of nighttime…
View in archive →Nighttime Street Slashing
A dramatic period tale about a nighttime sword attack at a bridge, followed by pursuit and combat between samurai figures. The narrative emphasizes suspense, ambush, and martial confrontation in a historical setting.
View in archive →The Sorrow of Consanguineous Marriage
A case-style narrative about a family formed through prohibited close-kin relationships and the tragic consequences for several children. It discusses hereditary abnormality, including albinism, alongside sexualized illustrated scenes and moral reflections on incest and…
View in archive →Office Romance
An erotic office-romance narrative about flirtation, jealousy, and sexual tension among coworkers, including an attempted reconciliation and a forgotten handbag that helps drive the encounter. The story presents workplace intimacy as a setting for…
View in archive →Rendezvous Kitan
An erotic short story depicting a chance nighttime encounter that develops into a fleeting sexual relationship, followed by emotional uncertainty and separation. The narrative emphasizes transient desire, seduction, and the melancholy aftermath of an…
View in archive →Behind the Flower-and-Willow World: The Female Beggar of Gōri Shinchi
A social-realist account of a female beggar living around Gōri Shinchi, tracing how a woman associated with beauty and respectable origins came to poverty and street begging. The article reflects on her family circumstances,…
View in archive →We Are Shoe Shiners
A colloquial first-person-style account of street shoe shiners, describing their work, customers, tools, earnings, and precarious everyday lives. The piece gives voice to working-class youth and emphasizes the hardships and social marginality of informal…
View in archive →Courtship Techniques
A practical, sometimes humorous guide to winning the attention of unfamiliar women and developing romantic intimacy. It discusses grooming and appearance, conversation, social behavior, timing, psychological tactics, and general rules for courtship.
View in archive →Secrets of an Affair
An erotic first-person narrative about clandestine affairs and sexual encounters, presenting secret meetings, seduction, and escalating sexual experimentation through sensational prose and accompanying illustrations. The feature combines confessional storytelling with motifs of secrecy, erotic…
View in archive →Love Spy: The Secret of the Sulfuric-Acid Affair
A sensational Love Spy mystery follows an investigation into a dangerous sulfuric-acid-related affair, involving concealed violence, threatened women, deception, and pursuit. The narrative uses melodramatic dialogue and lurid illustrations to develop its crime-and-romance intrigue.
View in archive →The Strange Women of Umeda
A serialized pulp narrative about the “strange women of Umeda” follows encounters among urban women, male patrons, nightlife venues, rented rooms, and domestic spaces. Episodes portray seduction, sexual bargaining, jealousy, coercion, physical confrontation, and…
View in archive →October 1950: Special Issue on Fascination and the Bizarre
The October 1950 issue of Kitan Club is explicitly presented as a special issue on fascination and the bizarre, and it displays the magazine's early postwar identity as a wide-ranging erotic-curiosity publication rather than…
View in archive →The Female Students' Private Punishment: Female Students Who Toy with the Body
An erotic narrative about a female university student whose sexual experimentation unfolds among classmates, dormitory acquaintances, and men in urban leisure spaces. The story emphasizes voyeurism, same-sex encounters, coercive sexual play, humiliation, and the…
View in archive →The Vagabond's Love: From Eight at Night to Nine in the Morning in the City's Entertainment District
An erotic urban adventure following the drifter Kame through Osaka’s entertainment districts, lodging houses, and marginal work settings from evening into the following morning. His encounters with women, including O-Kinu and other entertainers, combine…
View in archive →Five Women on an Autumn Evening
An erotic episodic fiction follows a male narrator through Osaka on an autumn night as he encounters several women in cafés, entertainment districts, and temporary lodgings. Its successive episodes portray seduction, sexual negotiation, commercial…
View in archive →The Captured Illegal Entrant
This narrative recounts the clandestine voyage of Korean man Li Hyeon-yang and fellow travelers who attempt to enter postwar Japan by boat, evade detection, and find shelter among sympathizers. Their eventual capture and interrogation…
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