The Beauty of Kinbaku: The pleasure of tying

There is a small but select library of BDSM-related books in the Scorpion’s Nest – enelnidodelescorpion@gmail.com, a cultural association located in the Raval quarter of Barcelona. One of their most beautiful books is called “The Beauty of Kinbaku”, written by Master K., that contains a very detailed and beautifully illustrated essay about the history of the erotic art of japanese bondage, known as “shibari” or “kinbaku” (words that mean, literally, “tying” and “strong tie”).

It may seem surprising to know that the two medieval predecessors of kinbaku, the aesthetic and erotic art of tying up using ropes, are hojojutsu (a martial art) and nawazeme (a style of torture). Hojojutsu was created as an obscure martial art at some point during early Japanese history, but became widely used by the samurai warriors and law-enforcement officers during the Edo period (1600-1868). It was born as a quick and secure method of tying up criminals using hemp rope, far more abundant and cheap than iron restraints or handcuffs. It evolved including a somewhat artistic component when it became necessary to tie up respected samurais or even nobles that had commited a crime: the rope designs and patterns indicated to any observer the social class of the accused (feudal Japan was a very stratified society) and even revealed which crime was he guilty of.

On the other hand, nawa-zeme was a torture method used for extracting confessions from prisoners. It consisted basically in forcing the body of the prisoner into quite extreme positions and securing that position with rope, so it became incredibly painful after some time. The most harsh of these positions was called tsuri-zeme, and involved a full-body suspension. As explained in “The Beauty of Kinbaku”, during the twentieth century an erotic art was born from the hands of masters like Itoh Seiyu: it took elements from hojojutsu and from zeme, but transformed the violent and painful elements into sensual and erotic ones. For instance, the ropes were moved away from nerves or painful spots in the body, to be placed instead where the rope could stimulate erogenous zones.

Although it is not the main purpose of the book, “The Beauty of Kinbaku” also includes some brief tutorials to start tying up your partner, along with some important safety advice. There is also a large gallery of bondage photographs that illustrate some of the concepts explained in other chapters, and a very useful glossary of Japanese bondage-related terms.

So now that you know a little more about the origins of the Japanese erotic art of tying, you can start learning it easily: there are many places in Barcelona to do this. You may go to the Rosas 5 club, the Fetish Cafe or the Scorpion’s Nest, where you can take part in one of their meetings of rope enthusiasts. They are open to everybody regardless of their experience with bondage, so do not hesitate: rent apartments in Barcelona and start preparing your ropes!

Tags: beauty of kinbaku, kinbaku, kinbaku freak, kinbaku no ori, shibari kinbaku, the beauty of kinbaku