Library

The books, magazines and films of Japanese rope history.

Books

Flower and Snake (novel)花と蛇1962 · Dan Oniroku's long SM serial, begun in Kitan Club in 1962 and finished in 1975, the source of the Nikkatsu and Toei film series and a classic of Japanese SM fiction.
Zukai Torinawajutsu図解捕縄術1965 · Fujita Seiko's illustrated compendium of hojōjutsu, first issued in a limited edition in the mid-1960s and later reprinted, which English Wikipedia suggests could be seen as the encyclopedia of the art.
Nihon Kinbaku Shashinshi日本緊縛写真史1996 · Akita Masami's 1996 history of Japanese kinbaku photography, supervised by Nureki Chimuo, which the researcher Kawahara Azumi calls a careful, evidence-based study.
Kinbaku no Bi, Kinbaku no Etsuraku緊縛の美・緊縛の悦楽1999 · Nureki Chimuo's 1999 paperback on the appeal of kinbaku, built around photographs of his work and first-person accounts by women drawn to rope.
Jay Wiseman's Erotic Bondage Handbook2000 · Jay Wiseman's 2000 Greenery Press guide to erotic bondage, from simple hand ties to spread-eagles and hogties, written to avoid complex knots.
The Seductive Art of Japanese Bondage2001 · Midori's illustrated book on Japanese rope bondage from Greenery Press, credited as the earliest English-language guide to the subject.
Kitan Club no Eshitachi「奇譚クラブ」の絵師たち2004 · Nureki Chimuo's 2004 book on the illustrators of Kitan Club, centered on Kita Reiko (Suma Toshiyuki), reissued in 2025.
Kitan Club to Sono Shūhen「奇譚クラブ」とその周辺2006 · Nureki Chimuo's 2006 memoir of the postwar SM magazine world around Kitan Club and Uramado, a key but contested insider account.
Shibari You Can Use2006 · Lee Harrington's beginner's guide to Japanese-style rope bondage, photographed by RiggerJay, which won a Geoff Mains Book Award for 2008 and was later revised.
Two Knotty Boys Showing You the Ropes2006 · The 2006 Green Candy Press photo guide to rope bondage by the teaching duo Two Knotty Boys, built around more than 750 step-by-step photographs.
The Beauty of Kinbaku2008 · Master K's English-language history of Japanese erotic rope bondage, first published in 2008, revised in 2014 and translated into Japanese in 2013.
Kinbaku: Inochi Aru Kagiri緊縛★命あるかぎり2008 · Nureki Chimuo's 2008 paperback of reflections on his life in rope, cited by historian Kawahara Azumi as typical of his mix of fact and fiction.
Kinbakushi A: Kōkotsu to Yūutsu no Hibi緊縛師A恍惚と憂鬱の日々2008 · Arisue Gō's 2008 collection of comic stories about desire behind the scenes of SM play, narrated around a rope artist, published by Ōta Shuppan.
Rope, Bondage, and Power2009 · A 2009 anthology edited by Lee Harrington in which some twenty riggers and rope partners write about why they tie and how rope relates to power exchange.
Two Knotty Boys Back on the Ropes2009 · Two Knotty Boys' 2009 sequel from Green Candy Press, a photo-led rope bondage guide with more than 750 photographs by Ken Marcus.
Complete Shibari, Volume 1: Land2010 · Douglas Kent's 2010 illustrated guide to ground-based shibari, the first of the two Complete Shibari volumes from Mental Gears Publishing.
Complete Shibari, Volume 2: Sky2010 · The second volume of Douglas Kent's Complete Shibari series (Mental Gears Publishing, 2010), devoted to rope suspension and its hardware and safety.
The Toybag Guide to Basic Rope Bondage2010 · Jay Wiseman's short portable guide to rope bondage basics in Greenery Press's Toybag Guide series, covering knots, limb ties and common positions.
Japan-Bondage2011 · Matthias T. J. Grimme's 2011 German handbook on Japanese-style rope bondage, a special volume of his Bondage-Handbuch published by Charon-Verlag in Hamburg.
Kitan Club kara Uramado e『奇譚クラブ』から『裏窓』へ2013 · Book-length 2013 interview with Iida Toyoichi (Nureki Chimuo) in Ronsōsha's publisher-interview series, often treated as his autobiography.
Shibari: Rope Workshop2014 · Philippe Boxis's illustrated book of 20 lessons in floor and suspension rope from Tabou Éditions, issued with French and English titles and closing with a photo gallery.
More Shibari You Can Use2015 · Lee Harrington's 2015 sequel to Shibari You Can Use, pairing intermediate rope ties with partner exercises on touch, trust and intimacy.
The Rope Artistその先の道に消える2018 · Nakamura Fuminori's crime novel about the murder of a kinbaku instructor, first published in Japan in 2018 and in Sam Bett's English translation in 2023.
Shibari Suspensions: A Step by Step Guide2019 · Gestalta's 2019 guide to rope suspension for people with some shibari experience, published by Kahboom and covering communication, safety and hardpoints.
Kinbaku: Shibari-e, Seme-e no Ōgon Jidai緊縛縛り絵・責め絵の黄金時代2023 · 2023 art anthology (enlarged in 2024) of Japanese bondage and seme-e illustration, from Minomura Kō and Muku Yōji to contemporary artists.
SM no ShisōshiSMの思想史2024 · Kawahara Azumi's 2024 scholarly history of SM thought in postwar Japan, the first systematic study of Kitan Club and its rival magazines as historical sources.
Nawa: Kinbakushi Naka Akira to Shibarareru Onnatachi縄緊縛師・奈加あきらと縛られる女たち2025 · Hanabusa Kannon's 2025 book about the rope master Naka Akira and the women he ties, published by Taiyō Tosho and described by it as both nonfiction and fiction.

Photo books

Kinbaku Taizen緊縛大全1971 · 1971 Haga Shoten bondage photobook with photography by Shinoyama Kishin, composition by Uno Akira and supervision by Dan Oniroku.
Araki: Bondage2012 · Taschen's book of Araki Nobuyoshi's kinbaku photographs, issued in 2012 as a signed three-volume limited edition and later as a single hardcover.
Ichigo Ichie一期一会2016 · Hajime Kinoko's 2016 bilingual photo-essay book from Sanwa Shuppan, one of a run of photobooks the rope artist has published since 2014.

Magazines

Bizarre1945 · Fetish magazine (1945–1956) founded and edited by John Willie, filled with his bondage drawings and photographs, and an influence on many later fetish publications.
Kitan Club奇譚クラブ1947 · Osaka monthly magazine (1947–1975) whose sadomasochistic articles, drawings and photographs helped popularize Japanese bondage in the 1950s.
Fūzoku Zōshi風俗草紙1953 · Short-lived Tokyo magazine (1953–1954) whose bondage gravure and sensational SM content led to repeated bans before it closed in 1954.
Uramado裏窓1956 · Tokyo SM magazine published by Kubo Shoten from 1956 to 1965, founded by Suma Toshiyuki and later edited by Iida Toyoichi (Nureki Chimuo).
Fūzoku Kitan風俗奇譚1960 · Tokyo magazine launched in 1960 that mixed SM fiction and articles with early regular pages for gay readers and cross-dressers; it ran under this title until 1974.
Suspense Magazineサスペンス・マガジン1965 · Kubo Shoten's successor to Uramado (1965–1980), an SM magazine presented as crime fiction and shaped by Iida Toyoichi (Nureki Chimuo).
Abumentoあぶめんと1970 · Six-issue SM magazine of 1970 made by Suma Toshiyuki, Muku Yōji and Iida Toyoichi after they left Kubo Shoten, issued through their Abu Production.
SM SelectSMセレクト1970 · Tokyo Sanseisha's monthly SM magazine (1970–1990), credited with starting the 1970s wave of SM titles, where the name Nureki Chimuo first appeared in print.
SM FanSMファン1971 · Tsukasa Shobō's SM magazine launched in 1971, one of the main titles of the 1970s SM boom, with spin-offs that closed in 1985.
S&M CollectorS&Mコレクター1972 · SM magazine launched in December 1972 by Sun Shuppan, started by a former Tokyo Sanseisha editor, with Suma Toshiyuki tying for its photo shoots.
SM KingSMキング1972 · SM magazine launched in 1972 by Dan Oniroku's company Oni Production, which stopped making pink films to publish it and was wound up in 1974.
Kinbiken Tsūshin緊美研通信1989 · Bulletin of the Kinbaku-bi Kenkyūkai, the study group around Nureki Chimuo, published from 1989 to 1999 in 23 issues and also sold in bookshops.

Films

Flower and Snake (1974 film)花と蛇1974 · Konuma Masaru's 1974 Nikkatsu Roman Porno film of Dan Oniroku's novel, starring Tani Naomi, the series' first SM-themed film.
Wife to Be Sacrificed生贄夫人1974 · Konuma Masaru's 1974 Nikkatsu Roman Porno film starring Tani Naomi, the studio's biggest hit of the year and a defining film of its SM line.
Beauty's Exotic Dance: Torture!発禁本「美人乱舞」より責める！1977 · Tanaka Noboru's 1977 Nikkatsu drama about the life of the painter Itō Seiu, set in the Taishō period, the last film of his Shōwa trilogy.
Rope Hell縄地獄1978 · Ohara Kōyū's 1978 Nikkatsu Roman Porno film starring Tani Naomi, adapted from Dan Oniroku's novel Yakuza Tenshi.
Rope and Skin団鬼六縄と肌1979 · Nishimura Shōgorō's 1979 Nikkatsu period film from a Dan Oniroku story, the farewell film of Tani Naomi.
Flower and Snake (2004 film)花と蛇2004 · Ishii Takashi's 2004 Toei remake of the Dan Oniroku story starring Sugimoto Aya, with rope work by Arisue Gō, followed by three more Toei films.
Bakushi縛師2007 · Hiroki Ryūichi's 2007 documentary about Japanese rope tiers Nureki Chimuo, Yukimura Haruki and Arisue Gō, premiered at Rotterdam and released in Japan in 2008.
Kinbaku (2009 documentary)2009 · Jouni Hokkanen's 29-minute Finnish documentary about kinbakushi and the bond between people who practice Japanese rope bondage, shown at the Sapporo Short Fest in 2010.
The Pleasure of Rope2015 · Bob Bentley's 2015 feature documentary on kinbaku, filmed backstage at rope events and featuring Japanese and Western rope artists.
The Peony's Whisper牡丹の囁き2016 · Vincent Guilbert's 2016 French documentary portrait of the Japanese rope master Naka Akira, shot in Japanese and selected for Sitges in 2018.

Articles

Shibari: Double Hanging During Consensual Sexual Asphyxia2013 · A 2013 forensic and psychiatric case report from Sapienza University of Rome on a fatal double hanging that the authors called shibari; a 2015 published response disputed its framing of BDSM.
Kinbaku/Shibari kara kinbaku/shibari e緊縛/縛りからkinbaku/shibariへ2014 · Anthropologist Tanaka Masakazu's 2014 conference paper to the Japanese Society of Cultural Anthropology on how Japanese rope bondage spread abroad as "kinbaku" and "shibari."
Bundna Positioner: Känsla och teknologi i kinbaku som förkroppsligande praktik2015 · Amanda Engström's 2015 bachelor's thesis in gender studies at Södertörn University, an ethnographic study of gendered embodiment in the Swedish kinbaku community.
Murakami Nobuhiko no Kitan Club ni okeru Tokumei Tekusuto o Kaidoku suru村上信彦の『奇譚クラブ』における匿名テクストを解読する：戦後の民主的平等論者の分身について2016 · Kawahara Azumi's 2016 article showing that the fashion and women's historian Murakami Nobuhiko wrote anonymous texts on sadism in Kitan Club in the mid-1950s.
Rope Bondage and Affective Embodiments: A Rhizomatic Analysis2019 · A 2019 article by Iris-Carmina Ordean and Heath Pennington in the Colombian journal Corpo-Grafías arguing that rope bondage works through affect rather than through fixed identities such as BDSM.
Pleasure, Community, and Marginalization in Rope Bondage: A Qualitative Investigation into a BDSM Subculture2020 · Zoey Jones's 2020 Carleton University sociology PhD thesis, based on 23 interviews in Canada and the United States, which treats rope bondage as a social world of its own within BDSM.
Iida Toyoichi (Nureki Chimuo) shi no Kiseki to sono Shigoto飯田豊一（濡木痴夢男）氏の軌跡とその仕事：新出インタビュー原稿によせて2021 · Kawahara Azumi's 2021 article in Ritsumeikan Bungaku that publishes unseen interviews with Iida Toyoichi (Nureki Chimuo) and surveys his sixty years as writer, editor and rope tier.
Rates of Injury and Healthcare Utilization for Kink-Identified Patients2021 · A 2021 Journal of Sexual Medicine survey of 1,398 kink-involved people by Sprott, Randall, Smith and Woo on injuries from kink activities, including bondage, and on disclosure to doctors.
Psychotherapist's Narrative of Coming Together Through the Holding of Rope2022 · Josephine Carin Blomqvist Almbring's 2022 University of Edinburgh thesis, a psychoanalytic self-case study of how practicing shibari shaped her development as a psychotherapist.
How Safe Is BDSM? A Literature Review on Fatal Outcome in BDSM Play2022 · A 2022 forensic literature review by Schori, Jackowski and Schön (University of Bern) that gathers seventeen published cases of death during BDSM play, including one case labeled shibari.
Kinbaku Kenkyū to Tetsugakusha: Kyōdai Kinbaku Shinpojiumu to wa Nan Datta no ka緊縛研究と哲学者：京大・緊縛シンポジウムとは何だったのか2022 · Kawahara Azumi's 2022 critique of the 2020 Kyoto University symposium on kinbaku, faulting its speakers for repeating an unverified history and ignoring existing research.
Acute Radial Compressive Neuropathy: The Most Common Injury Induced by Japanese Rope Bondage2023 · A 2023 Cureus paper by Khodulev and colleagues that surveys nerve injuries among rope bondage practitioners and finds the radial nerve was the structure most often affected.
Esbozos hacia una genealogía del shibari latinoamericano: un refugio de cuerdas platense2023 · A 2023 conference paper by Guaglianone, Medina Díaz, Pavón and Demartin that sketches a situated history of shibari in the rope community of La Plata, Argentina.
Healing Experiences in Japanese Rope Bondage Practice: A Phenomenological Study2023 · Eva Harris's 2023 article in Consciousness, Spirituality & Transpersonal Psychology, based on ten interviews, on the healing experiences shibari practitioners describe.
'Doing, Feeling, Thinking Rope': A Comparative Analysis of Rope Bondage Scenes in London, Berlin and Paris2024 · Iris Carmina Ordean's 2024 Durham University doctoral thesis, a qualitative comparison of rope bondage scenes in three European cities based on fieldwork with 45 practitioners.
Shoki Kitan Club no Shoshi Jōhō, Sōmokuji to Jakkan no Kōsatsu初期『奇譚クラブ』の書誌情報・総目次と若干の考察2025 · Kawahara Azumi's 2025 source study in the journal Antitled, the first full bibliography and table of contents of Kitan Club's early B5 issues of 1947–1952.