How does a shibari create art with rope...and a naked submissive?

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But how could a samurai use only rope as his medium—and how does this transform into erotic bondage?

The 16th and 17th century samurai warriors developed a system of tying up their captives in various positions that would incapacitate them. The positions would also show their subjugation to their conquerors. And to distinguish among the prisoners their rank, the warrior created a system of knots and positions that showed to anyone within their armies how valuable this particular prisoner was.

This system of showing honor and respect as well as social rank transformed in the late 18th and 19th centuries in Japan into the erotic bondage displays that today we call Kinbaku. (Demonstrations of this occurred in the geisha houses and evolved into auto-erotic bondage. Wood block prints of The Floating World portray such practices, difficult to find but available, also show erotic positions of bondage.)

Here, a master of the rope, called a Nawashi (rope artist) ties his subject into various poses, all of which show respect and honor to the subject and the master. The subject must practice total submission to the Nawashi and this requires not only practice but patience and concentration.  The art of working the ropes in a demonstration can take hours.

The result is a beautiful tableau or picture of a naked body bound in (usually) fine jute. Binding a female, a Nawashi uses the rope and knots to accentuate the curves and hollows of his subject’s hair, arms, legs, toes, fingers, breasts and genitalia. The more skilled the Nawashi, the more finely he can separate each part of his subject’s body and display it in erotic forms. Displaying a male subject can also be done, this time displaying the male body and even arranging the penis and testicles in artful manners. The reward of the Nawashi to his subject for an excellent submission and performance can be sexual intimacy and gratification.

Would you find this kind of bondage sexually exciting?