Kasumi Hourai
Nagoya-based Japanese kinbakushi who modeled for Akechi Denki and studied Naka Ryu with Naka Akira, and was listed for workshops in Sydney, Berlin and Barcelona.
Kasumi Hourai (蓬莱かすみ, also written Hourai Kasumi) is a Japanese kinbakushi from Nagoya who teaches and performs internationally. A 2013 interview on the Gray Dancer podcast site gives Nagoya as the home base, and the Studio Kink page for a 2019 visit calls Hourai a rope artist from Nagoya. The Barcelona studio Espacio Nos lists Hourai among its collaborators.
Lineage
The Gray Dancer interview says Hourai modeled for Akechi Denki, studied with Hajime Kinoko and subsequently developed an individual approach. Studio Kink says Hourai was initially self-taught and went to Tokyo in 1999 to study under Akechi Denki. The same page names further teachers: Kinoko, in the Ichinawakai group; Kitagawa, from whom carabiner-free techniques, locks and knots were learned at Salon Kitagawa; and Akira Naka, with whom Hourai began studying Naka Ryu in 2015 and for whom Hourai modeled on DVDs, in performances and at photo shoots. Hourai has also worked as a rigger in the studio of Norio Sugiura, which Studio Kink says pushed the practice toward more classical kinbaku. Studio Kink and Learn Shibari give different ages for the start of Hourai’s lessons with Akechi Denki.
Style and teaching
The 2013 interview describes a passion for treating rope as an art medium and the body as a canvas, in a delicate Japanese style, and mentions photographic work and DVDs. Karada House describes influences from ikebana, kadō, sadō and chadō and reports more than 25 years of tying experience. Studio Kink adds that Hourai rigs for photo studios.
Workshops and performances
- Sydney, March 2019. Studio Kink listed a Naka-style takate kote class for 8 March, an advanced intensive for 9 and 10 March, and a Club Kinbaku performance with the Studio Kink team for 9 March. The page says Hourai prefers seme-nawa rope.
- Berlin, January 2025. Karada House listed a two-day Foundations workshop on 18 and 19 January 2025, taught in Japanese with simultaneous English translation, with a follow-up scheduled for October 2025.
- Barcelona, September 2026. Learn Shibari listed a two-day intensive with Asami Hime on 12 and 13 September 2026, plus a performance on the evening of 12 September, with Espacio Nos named as the hosting space. Registration was shown as closed.