(NSFW) Shibari’s popularity has boomed worldwide. Yet in Tokyo, Kinbaku remains an underground affair, connected to the sex industry and practiced by cult icons like Akira Naka.

Source: Huckmag.com.

JAPAN – TOKYO – We’re in a small room in a Tokyo apartment with traditional tatami flooring. Fifteen spectators are crammed inside, all transfixed by a woman suspended from the ceiling, panting profusely and groaning with pleasure. A well-built, extensively tattooed man is tying the woman in an intricate web of rope. He secures each bind with purpose and precision while looking her straight in the eyes. The man circles the suspended woman, increasing the intensity and tension of the ropes until she tips into a frenzy of pleasure, her eyes rolling backwards into her head. The show continues, with the woman in a state of fevered rapture. Despite the fact she is bound with increasingly severe ties, between each knot she lures the man to her with an intense gaze – eyes like a wild animal – before she finally convulses into an explosive climax.

This is a Kinbaku Japanese rope bondage salon, a small and intimate gathering of sorts that takes place in a private apartment. The two performers are Akira Naka, one of Japan’s veteran kinbakushi (rope riggers), and his model Akane. Naka is something of a cult icon, featuring in one of Japanese photographer Nobuyoshi Araki’s most famous photos, ‘Tattooed fuck’ from his Tokyo Comedy series. Although what Naka and Akane are doing is highly sexually charged, there are many diverse reasons why people enjoy kinbaku, from relaxation to an exhilarating thrill, psychological exploration or to deepen connection with their partner.