" Beauty Bound " Rigging by Midori, Photos by Michael Blue

It's a myth if we here in San Francisco - or in North America or even in the UK - think that we're the only ones who are wrapped up and involved in the BDSM society. When it came time to talk about assignments for this edition, we discussed the need for a BDSM piece; it being a favored topic of mine, I volunteered. About the same time, a mailing list I was on sent out a note letting another member know of BDSM resources in Japan. It only took a second to make the connection, and what I learned surprised me.

The first place I started was at a Yahoo group dedicated to the scene in Japan. A careful reading taught me all sorts of things, such as the fact that for a while, many people seemed frustrated that there was a lack of resources for connecting those who had an interest in the lifestyle. One Dom commented that after living in the Tokyo area for a year, he was "under whelmed" by the scene. As time went on and the list became more established, folks from around the world who had visited or been stationed in Japan began to join and discuss their experiences.

A member of this list referred to attending a "Mistress Bar" which he touted as Femdom oriented, where male customers could get themselves tied up and whipped. A Master's Bar was supposed to be directly downstairs, so presumably it had the opposite appeal for females. Still, another member complained that she'd "found that in Japan BDSM is not always what it should be... many claim to be interested but it is just vanilla in a prettily bound box." We all know how depressing this can be when earnestly in search of experiences we need in order to complete ourselves.

One noted place was an SM club Roppongi, a suburb of Tokyo. The address of the Mistress Bar is Minato-ku Roppongi 3-4-35, Sanko Bldg. 3, phone: 03-3585-5133. Depressingly enough, a lot of advice to try www.alt.com or www.adultfriendfinder.com was given to try to hook up with folks. It was beginning to seem as though the scene had little to offer. Then a gentleman named Osaka Steve took over the monitoring of the board, and he had some really great resources to share.

First I was directed to a listing of Tokyo SM clubs. Unfortunately for those of us not native or who are not able to read Japanese, you may have trouble navigating the site. There are, however, some fantastic looking women listed on the sites. One should know that in Tokyo, or in Japan as a whole, it's more proper to say SM Queen than it is Mistress. That may help you in your quest to get your kink on in Japan.

One bit of advice offered by a gentleman who has been to many clubs in Tokyo and throughout the country is that as a foreigner you will be excluded from many places. Without a good, solid command of Japanese it can be hard to break into some clubs and scenes. "This is from our personal experience from living in Japan," the anonymous gentleman expounded. His statement might be unfortunately more apt than incorrect, because I too have learned (especially when dealing with the SM clubs listed in the above paragraph) that one should be prepared. The clubs are very expensive and don't always cater to foreigners.

Clearly, fetishism is alive and well in Tokyo, however. This store in the Roppongi suburb of Tokyo caters to all the basic needs one might have as a dedicated practitioner of BDSM - gear, toys and clothing. It also comes highly recommended by several of the members of the yahoo group I read.

The next stop on this expanded tour of Japanese BDSM culture is a pretty wild site. A flash gallery on the right rolls photos of SM Queens doing their best to inflict the punishment their clients so richly deserve. To the left is a fairly exhaustive menu with artistic galleries, erotica, a list of Masters and SM Queens, and a calendar of SM events in Tokyo. Some are only in Japanese, but the majority have English translations as well.

For those interested in just getting a taste of what the BDSM scene is like in Japan, you can visit a site where you can buy videos, buy DVDs or watch streaming videos. Or get a free tour of Japanese rope bondage and teach you some bondage terms in Japanese before asking you to join their paid memberships. But that's not what we're really after, is it? It's the real experience we're looking into here.

This is when we head to Osada Steve has set up a paid site which displays his mastery of the art of rope bondage. Also contained on his site are a Tokyo Bondage Report, a jpg gallery of his work, a section on learning the techniques of Japanese bondage and SM, chat sections, a BBS to make connections and more. If it's happening in Tokyo, this gentleman will know about it, and is probably performing at some club near it. His rope work in kinbaku and shibari is renowned. This gentleman literally learned at the feet of the legendary master Osada Eikichi, who has since passed on, but Osada Steve keeps his legend and tradition alive in the myriad shows he performs.

Read an interview with Osada Steve and to see for yourself how knowledgeable he is. Osada Steve is also known by his screen name of Doctor D. Vice or Doc, and he seems very approachable and terribly friendly. This article concentrates primarily on his rope work and his belief in carrying on a tradition. There is also some wickedly erotic bondage artwork in the interview, so if this knot-stuff is your style, get on over there.

As a matter of fact, on his personal website has a calendar of all kinds of events and classes where he will teach the deshi (student or apprentice) all about the art of musunde (tying a knot). The site also documents where you can catch his live performances, and by looking at photographs of his work, I bet he would be a fascinating entertainer.

If you're intrigued by the "art of the rope," learn actual terms and customs of robe bondage from Taka. He defines Japanese terms as well as customs. To my surprise, he further explains that the SMBD scene of Japan is primarily centered around rope bondage and suspension, not the corporal devices like floggers and whips which take center stage in the Western American or European scene.

Taka tells us that in Japan if you don't do rope, you are not doing SM. He also lets us in on the little know factoid that in the Asian scene, the acrostic is often seen as "SMBD" or simply SM, and not as BDSM as it is referred to in America and Europe. If one were to speak of BDSM in Japan, one might not be understood clearly.

In Osaka, one can go to the Bar Lunatic, presenting an odd mixture of Japanese characters and English. I couldn't make much sense of it other than to see that it's a SM queen house of domination. It's worth a look though, and if the women on the site are anything to go by, worth a visit, as well.

Rope Marks offers galleries and a short dictionary about the art of the rope. I found it useful in trying to understand some of the terms I was seeing over and over on other sites. It's also lavishly created with some erotic yet glamorous examples of gorgeous women bound and tortured. It's truly a beautiful site.

And finally, for a really fantastic three-part series on what S&M truly means to those who live in Japan and how they perceive the shift toward SM within the community, I heartily recommend the sexy yet informative article. It's filled with a plethora of SM images in Japan, where the rich history began and how it is being continued today.

All this helps shed a light on a culture that is active within the realms of BDSM. Our definitions of the terms can be vastly different, as all simple cultural differences can be, but there is an underlying sexuality within us all. In Japan, one can find just about anything to whet your SM/BDSM fetish.

Photos courtesy of beautybound.com. Concept, rigging and styling by Midori. Lighting and photography by Michael Blue.