Thursday, May 22, 2008

By GIOVANNI FAZIO

Special to The Japan Times

Consider, for a moment, tattoos. Removable and temporary tattoos are gaining in popularity. But there goes the whole cachet of tattoos, really. The very reason they're worth having is, in fact, the ordeal you go through to get them and the finality of the decision. Therein lies the line that separates the inked from everyone else.

Ties that bind us: Rope master Haruki Yukimura and kinbaku (bondage) model Sumire in a scene from the film "Bakushi." © At Entertainment Co. Ltd. ADNESS, Jam TV

Boxing, mountain climbing, weight lifting, straight teeth, ballet, zazen, piercings, rugby — the list goes on and on of things you can't enjoy without a little risk and/or pain. And yet when it comes to sex, mention risk or pain and most people will run for the exits.

There is a not-so-small group of people, though, who consider the torment of being bound and suspended in ropes an exquisite experience. This is not surprising: cultures all over the world have long histories of body crisis rituals, whether voodoo possession in Haiti, the Apache sun dances, or the trance-state dancing of the Guedra in Morocco. In one sense, bondage has become a sexualized replacement of these lost, archaic rituals.

But fortunately for our rope-lovers, there's another group of people equally keen on tying them up. In Japan, the people who are really, really good at this are known as bakushi (restraint masters) or nawashi (rope masters), and they are the subject of director Ryuichi Hiroki's revealing documentary entitled simply "Bakushi."

Shooting in a casual, intimate style, Hiroki focuses on three professional rope artists and their models, in a fascinating blend of the outre and the ordinary. For the initiated, "Bakushi" is an intriguing look at some acknowledged masters of tying technique; for those unfamiliar with the world of Japanese kinbaku (bondage), the documentary should destroy certain preconceptions.

Ryuichi Hiroki

Hiroki is a prolific director, with a career spanning three decades, but this is his first documentary. (His 2003 film "Vibrator" won a rare five stars from The Japan Times' Mark Schilling.) His early career in the '80s included a spell making pinku eiga (soft-porn movies) — under a pseudonym — which included some sadomasochistic fare.

Over coffee in a cramped Shinjuku office, Hiroki explained what first attracted him to kinbaku. "Basically, I was interested in (Nobuyoshi) Araki's photos," the 54-year-old director said. "I thought the eroticism of the person tied up, which Araki was able to capture, was incredible. That's what got me interested in S&M." Regarding "Bakushi," Hiroki recalls how "on my 'pink' movies, the rope expert would come to the set and silently go about his work. They'd meet a girl, say 'hajimemashite,' and just break out the rope.

"I'd watch these guys and think, wow, they're in a different world from me. I'd wonder what kind of people they were. Where did they come from? That's what inspired the film."

Hiroki looks at three top-level bakushi: Haruki Yukimura, Chimuo Nureki and Go Arisue. Nureki has been the go-to rope artist for adult videos for a generation or two. He's still tying for a living at age 78, a self-described "shibari (bondage) robot" who claims to have bound at least 5,000 women. Yukimura turns 60 this year, wields a more elegant style, and is at about 3,000 models served. Arisue can't be far behind, in age or numbers. The film follows all three men, discussing their passion to the camera, and engaging in one-on-one sessions with their models: Sumire, Taeko Uzuki, Kei Sugiyama and Hiromi Saotome.

Hiroki says it was a deliberate choice to shoot private bondage sessions instead of public shows. "I wanted to capture the essence of the relationship between a bakushi and his model. People may wonder, is tying up someone 'sex'? Do they actually do it in private, bakushi and models? I'm not as interested in that, as just in examining the intimacy between them.

"I'm not attempting to 'explain' S&M or to orient a person who's viewing it for the first time. I just wanted to reveal that there are people like this. I don't have any particular aim, just that the viewer should feel something."

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