The Beauty of Kinbaku
Master K's English-language history of Japanese erotic rope bondage, first published in 2008, revised in 2014 and translated into Japanese in 2013.
The Beauty of Kinbaku, subtitled “Or everything you ever wanted to know about Japanese erotic bondage when you suddenly realized you didn’t speak Japanese”, is a book by the author and kinbaku teacher who writes as Master “K”. It was first published by King Cat Ink in 2008. A second, fully revised edition of 194 pages followed; the bookseller listing dates it 2014.
The publisher’s description of the second edition presents the book as a full English-language account of kinbaku, from its origins and its development out of a martial art to its modern erotic forms. It lists some thirty short biographies of notable kinbaku artists, close to one hundred historical illustrations and photographs, a gallery of the author’s own ties, a glossary of tie names and terms, a bibliography of English and Japanese literature and a short illustrated technical section.
The publisher says that since its 2008 debut the book has been taken up around the world as the standard reference. A Japanese translation, Kinbaku no Bunkashi (“A Cultural History of Kinbaku”), was published by Suirensha in October 2013, with Yamamoto Norio also credited. A 2017 Vice article calls it the definitive text on the subject, and English Wikipedia’s article on hojōjutsu cites it for the view that Japanese erotic bondage took shape in the late Edo period.