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BDSM Dictionary : Shibari: history
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[[Image:Nawa shibari 1998 web.jpg|thumb|Shibari from fakirart/ Fakier Photo Art ]] Shibari (literally meaning "tying", from the verb shibaru) is a Japanese style of sexual bondage. Kinbaku (tight binding) is perhaps the more correct and widely understood term. Outside the bondage community, the word shibari is understood in a general sense of tying or weaving, but not as bondage specifically. Shibari involves tying up the bottom in intricate patterns, usually with several pieces of thin rope. Typically, these ropes will be 'asanawa', which, although it literally translates as 'hemp rope', is usually jute. Lengths are specifically 7m-8m and usually 3-ply twisted, between 4mm-8mm thick. Shibari differs from Western bondage in that, instead of just immobilizing or restraining the bottom, it is often more about the erotic effects of the process. The aesthetics of the bound person's position are also important and there are certain standard key elements or styles. Japanese bondage is notorious for its use of asymmetric positions and suspension to heighten the psychological impact of bondage.
Although some of the techniques of Japanese sexual bondage originated
with the military restraint technique of
Hojojutsu, sexual bondage techniques are far
gentler, and great care is taken to avoid
injury.Development of Shibari
According to several sources, bondage as a sexual activity first came to
notice in Japan in the late Edo period. However, one can reasonably
assume that as soon as it became used as a tool, it found its way into
the bedroom not long after. The public were introduced to kinbaku, in
the late 20s/early 30's, through the seme-e (sadistic) art of Itoh
Seiyu. In the early 50's, Kitan Club published the first nude bondage
photos. In the mid-1960s, a tradition of bondage as a form of
performance art developed in Japan with Osada Eikechi performing to
packed houses. Akechi Denki (deceased) is perhaps the best known of the
great kinbakushi (kinbaku artists). However, many have developed along
aside him or under his example. The current 'premier division', all
Japanese based, includes Nureki Chimuo, Randa Mai, Yukimura Haruki,
Arisue Go, Osada Steve.Glossary
: strict bondage: rope tying: This Japanese term is made up
of two Japanese terms. "nawa" which means "rope" and "-shi" which means
"artist" or practioner of some recognized proficiency (master or
teacher). Historically it referred to a maker of rope. It has come to
mean "rope artist" in the rope bondage world. The commercial Japanese
performance industry will use the term to denote it's professional
bondagers.The following two "Japanese bondage's" are specific Western inventions that have -NOT- been picked up by, or originated from, the East.
(This entry in the BDSM Dictionary incorporates text from the Shibari article in Wipipedia.)
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