Hanyu Wang's blog

After first-hand research-interviewing people about rope bondage before and after they tried it, I found that almost all of the respondents had a negative view of rope bondage before they tried it. To further validate this idea, and to see if there is a difference in the perception of rope bondage between the East and West.

I searched “捆绑”(Rope bondage in Chinese), “Rope Bondage” and “Shibari”(Rope bondage in Japanese) on Google Trends in the last five years. And organize and summarize the data to draw some conclusions. The Eastern stereotype of rope bondage is erotic. There really is a big difference between Eastern and Western perspectives of rope bondage.

For “捆绑”,79% of the related topics were related to sex. However, for “Rope Bondage,” the percentage dropped to 57%. Searching “Shibari” showed only 7% of the related topics to be related to sex. From the above data, it can be verified that the stereotype of rope bondage in China does exist and accounts for the majority; while most people in Europe and the United States searched related topics more about teaching and knowledge content, which shows this part of people have a relatively strong positive impression view of rope bondage.

Many theatrical programs of traditional kabuki, including the famous classical operas of “Yuki-me” [Snow Maiden] and “Kinkaku-ji” [Temple of the Golden Pavilion, a Zen Buddhist temple in Kyoto], all contain plots of Seme-ba that depict the leading roles suffering from beating and torture.

After the First Sino-Japanese War, in June of 1896, the Hong Haruki-za Theater in Tokyo put on stage a drama called “Nisshin Senso – Youchi no Kataki-tan” (First Sino-Japanese War – Tale of the Enemy’s Night Attack]. It profoundly touched a fourteen-year-old young man among the audience. Many years later, he would, under the nom de guerre of Ito Seiu, become a kinbaku painter, photographer, and research investigator. He published the first photo book of kinbaku in Japan named “Seme no Kenkyu” [Study of Torture] in 1928, and organized theater shows. Eventually, he became recognized as the father of modern Japanese kinbaku.

The postwar ’50s and 60s is the heyday of the magazine Kitan Club [Club of Strange Tales]. This magazine often used sex, torture, abuse, and exotic customs as its main themes, with occasional detective stories or even science fiction. From today’s point of view, this magazine can be regarded as a precious historical representative of the formative period of Japanese SM culture. In addition, Kitan Club also acted as a promoter of Kinkajou cultural. Suma Toshiyuki, who worked as a writer, illustrator, and photographer, along with people such as Tsujimura Takashi [the two people collectively used more than ten pseudonyms in order to create an impression of many authors], first researched kinbaku for the purpose of illustration. 

In 1962, Dan Oniroku’s novel “Hana to Ebi” (Flower and Snake] began its serial Publication in Kitan Club. In 1965, Osada Eikichi amazed the world with a single brilliant feat: an SM experimental drama, which is now widely acknowledged as the 

progenitor of kinbaku stage performance. From the late ’60s to early ’70s, with the popularization of “Pink Cinema” type movies, people like Konuma Takashi also began to assume the role of kinbaku directors in movie productions. In 1974, facing impending bankruptcy, Nikkatsu Film Company decided to make “Flower and Snake as one last throw of the dice and achieved unexpected popularity. Afterwards, the movie’s kinbaku director Urado Hiroshi Collaborated with Nikkatsu on a total of 46 Movies. In order to safely adapt Knikabu to its newly found applications in photography, stage performance, and movies without harming the models, they experimented with all kinds of new kinbaku techniques that captured the verve and charm of kabuki and hojojutsu, while taking into account safety issues. From several decades of records starting from Kitan Club, we can see the modern kinbaku techniques gradually taking shape during this period.

With the advent of VHS tapes in the ’80s, adult videos gradually replaced adult films.

Nawashi such as Nureki Chimuo, Shima Shikou, Akechi Denki, and Arise Go not only assisted in the kinbaku production of adult movies but also became a new generation of celebrities. They appeared in movies, speaking with fervor and assurance, talking about what rope means to them, their emotional connections with their models, and the true meaning of SM as they see it.These words by the nawashi have come to nourish generations of Japanese SM enthusiasts, and have exerted an important force to influence and shape the SM culture in Japan.

Rope Bondage is not a mainstream hobby. People who have tried bondage are not common, and some people are unwilling to talk about it even if they have tried it, and the interviewees are relatively limited. So I interviewed some of my friends involved with the Kink Community in China and also some new friends I made since coming to London.. The topic of the interview is to let everyone share their feelings and opinions before and after trying rope bondage.

Jieer(She/Her): Before experiencing Rope Bondage, I have been watching BDSM porn. Some Japanese porn contains rope bondage content. I enjoy the process of watching this. The rough hemp rope goes through the chest, wrist and arms, which is very sexy. The rope wrapped around me like a snake and walked into my heart. Today, I no longer think that rope binding is just a performance art, which brings me too many layers of rich emotions and precious memories. The rope connects me to my friends whom I have been extremely lucky to know.

Yahani(She/Her): Although I had no sexual shame before trying to tie, I could often receive from the message about bondage the idea of male dominance and objectification of women, which was inevitable. Before I met CK, the binding I came into contact with in Korea was a flower rack, and personally I felt that the experience was not a bondage, so it was not really tried at that time.

After being tied up, it can be said that my desire to perform has been amplified, and I am more convinced that I have no sense of sexual shame. Personally, I feel that when it comes to getting rid of sexual shame, the experience of bondage has a certain impact. (There is a premise here. I am suffering from severe depression and anxiety. It became more severe during my time in Hangzhou. I only came into contact with ck and them later. Therefore, in addition to the physical feeling, the psychological feeling will be magnified more)

Bondage does have actual sensory experience, and it also has a further understanding of one’s own body and psychology. It can selectively empower one’s own body. Women can also choose what they can accept and are willing to try in the process. Roles, but the roles of women and men are unequal from beginning to end. It is always women who are being examined or men who become women. Everyone knows this.

My boyfriend is an ordinary person who doesn’t get in touch with these at all, and I haven’t shown him my preferences and mental state in this regard, and I didn’t know or be interested in role reversal sex(The Fourth Love in Mandarin which means a heterosexual relationship where the woman is the top) before. After trying bondage, I am more willing to try the so-called role switching, whether it is sex or personality, and try differently with my own body and other people’s bodies. My desire to satisfy my own body and mind has been completely magnified and dissected.

Wisdom(He/Him, Film&Business student): 

Most of the people I interviewed had a negative attitude towards Rope Bondage before trying it, and a positive attitude towards it after trying it. A small number of people originally had a positive attitude towards Rope Bondage, but after trying it, they were pleasantly surprised that Rope Bondage was better than they originally expected!