Not long ago, it was difficult to find Japanese rope artists, nawashi, in the United States, much less access workshops on kimbaku, the erotic art of Japanese rope bondage, also commonly known in the United States as shibari. But in the past 10 years, the art of Japanese rope bondage has attracted attention not only from the BDSM community, but also from artists, photographers, designers and advertisement agencies, as well as people who’ve never before thought of bringing bondage into their sex lives.

Beautiful images of the body contorted and restrained, laced with a complex set of knots and ties, or suspended by colorful rope aren’t so hard to find—whether in glossy, mainstream lingerie advertisements or postmodern performance art.

The contradiction is that bondage, especially as “erotic practice,” is still taboo and considered by many to be the domain of a still stigmatized BDSM community. Because rope bondage is “pornographic,” rope bondage websites have recently faced scrutiny because of stricter laws of the 2257 regulations, which require strict documentation of all models working in the porn industry. Some of these records are no longer in the hands of current webmasters and are difficult to track down.

A Japanese skill dating back to the fourth century, rope bondage would be sexy and beautiful with or without sex, S/M play or teasing that sometimes, but not always, accompanies it. The tying and bending of the body into beautiful and asymmetric positions can be meditative, physically challenging and/or erotic for both partners. The final picture is an aesthetic masterpiece.

Bondage, in both Western and Eastern philosophies, finds its roots in incarceration. Western bondage stems back to cowboys and deputies, and even further back to medieval torture methods, utilizing materials such as chain, leather and handcuffs. Similarly, Hojojustu is a method of restraint traditionally practiced by Japanese samurai and police using hemp rope.

Just as in the Western world handcuffs have become part of many persons’ sex lives and police uniforms have been fetishized, in the early 20 th century the rope skills and positioning of hojojustu were adapted for erotic play and became known as kimbaku. Kimbaku gained wider popularity as the subject of erotic photography during the 70s and 80s in Japan, but originally appeared in scroll painting as early as the 14 th century, and dawned in photography magazines as early as the 1920s.

As fetish diva and rope-bondage expert Midori explains, “bondage is a cultural artifact.” To explain what makes bondage sexy, one would have to look at the subtle cultural contexts of our erotic imaginations. That which we find to be sexy is locked deep within our subconscious minds and relate to images we’ve seen on TV, on billboards, in magazines, and elsewhere in our environments.

“Japanese sexuality is about that which is beyond the frame of vision. This is often more important than what you see in front of you,” says Midori. The “beauty” of rope bondage is rooted in Japanese aesthetics, one example being that of the wind-swept pine bent asymmetrically by the pull of an invisible force. The body bound by rope represents such a force.

Many Western experts of Japanese rope bondage fell into the practice naturally.

“I’ve been tying things up since I was five,” says Dov, a rope-bondage expert who is probably best known for his rope corsets. “The first thing I ever tied up was a toilet seat.”

It took Dov years to put a name to what seemed second nature to him as a child and to realize that to the rest of the world, rope bondage might be considered pornographic or deviant. Dov calls this realization the mirror stage—when, in a Times Square video booth watching a B&D Pleasures video of a woman getting her breasts tied up, Dov suddenly understood that he’d been practicing the “erotic art of rope bondage” with his girlfriends for years.

MorTis, known within the Chicago BDSM as the “rope guy” and organizer of the annual rope bondage conference, Shibaricon, started copying the ties and wraps he saw in photographs. He built trust with women he met at local clubs so he could practice his new skills with them, and before long would tie up as many as 40 women a night. He had been bored by much of the porn he saw on the Internet, but as an artist the beauty and eroticism of shibari turned him on.

Part of what makes shibari erotic as well as aesthetically pleasing is that the touch of the rope is so sensual. Says Dov, “Rope is tactile: the smell, flavor, feel and color evokes a range of responses in people.”

Choosing the right rope is part of the fun, and it all depends on how long a rope you want to work with, how thick and from what material. Thinner rope tends to be easier to tie than thick rope. Natural ropes have a wonderful smell but can sometimes irritate sensitive skin. These are just some of the factors to consider. For a more complete guide to different types of ropes see RainbowRope.com.

While shibari can be erotic, tying someone up doesn’t mean sexual intercourse is necessarily part of the experience. “I’ll tie up almost anyone,” says MorTis. “But, only if we really connect will we then have sex.”

Dov agrees that one doesn’t have to have sex for shibari to be sexy and fun. “I can tie someone up and torture them a little, create tension through our energy … Sometimes, I feel in the same physical and mental space after tying someone up, as if we had sex.”

New York professional domme Laidie Magenta always keeps sex out of her job. This is what makes the tension of the rope so excruciating. In her words: “I like to get my clients hard within five minutes and keep them that way.”

As a pro domme, Laidie Magenta combines the power play of dominance and submission in her utilization of rope. “S/M brings in drama, layers of tension and release that aren’t involved in other kinds of sex.”

Practicing shibari, however, does not necessitate an S/M relationship, role playing or scenario. While there is always the “top,” the person doing the tying, and the “bottom,” the person being tied, there is not necessarily always the “dom,” the person in the mental headspace of dominance or a “sub,” the person in the mental headspace of being a submissive. In some cases, one or both persons “switch” between top and bottom, sub or dom. Much of the pleasure of Japanese rope bondage can also be derived from collaborating as lovers or friends.

“The problem happens when assumptions are made about tops and bottoms and what is what,” says Midori. “Active questions and listening skills are important. Make-believe is fine until you start lying about yourself.”

“Rope bondage is erotic because it has the ability to transform,” says Dov. “It’s an amazing tool, and depending on your mood, can be all about fun or sitting in place while other things happen. It can be meditative, calm or mean as hell ... It can be violent or quiet, depending on your perspective. It can also be very collaborative.”

Rope bondage is different for everyone and within every context. Some “tops” are sadists, and enjoy inflicting “pain” or “intense sensations.” Others are interested in fun and collaboration. As Dov explains, “Some bottoms go into a meditative zone and can even fall asleep. Others go into kicking and screaming. Still others are ‘escape artists’ and are more calculating about how they try to get out.” The loss of control and fear of being bound or tortured can be part of the eroticism.

The aspect of shibari that everyone could agree upon is that no matter how one chooses to practice rope bondage, the key is to keep all play safe and consensual.

At a workshop on Eastern-Inspired Rope Bondage organized by Black Rose, a Washington, DC based BDSM organization, expert Bridgett Harrington made sure to cover the importance of safety. Safety is also one of six main workshop tracks at the Shibaricon rope bondage conference in Chicago.

For anyone trying rope bondage for the first time, safety shears should be on hand just in case the rope needs to be cut. The person bound should be monitored to make sure their circulatory, respiratory and nervous systems are functioning normally. Their hands should be squeezed occasionally to make sure enough blood is getting to the hands in order to squeeze back. If it looks like a person needs to be taken out, cutting the rope might not always be the best option. Staying calm and untying the rope will best keep anxiety from heightening.

Perhaps one of the most common misconceptions about bondage play is that it is “violent.” But, the shibari experts gave a very different response.

“It is absolutely not about violence,” says Laidie Magenta. “BDSM is safe, sane and consensual play … Role play is a realm that may involve previously agreed upon 'violence' as part of a specific fantasy or scene, but role play is acting out a specific role outside of the player's everyday reality and it's under the umbrella of the safe, sane and consensual play.”

Midori believes that terms like “violence” and “pain” are too difficult to define to be used as labels for shibari. “Is it pain or is it intense sensations?” she asks. “A lot of people don’t relate to pain when it’s also pleasurable. Is that violence? Is there an element of power and struggle? It’s all along a spectrum. For some people, the rope is a nice cocooning embrace, the rope being an extension of the lovers arm. It can be extremely soft and nurturing ... Bondage reflects fantasy; it is just a tool. Rope means nothing. Like a kiss, the intent means everything.”

Whether intended for erotic play, art or just for fun—with a few basic ties—a rope bondage beginner can put their partner into a wide variety of beautiful poses. For example, tying the wrists together and then attaching that tie to one ankle or creating a chest harness that leaves the breasts looking like “pearls.” The most elaborate positions and suspensions used by professionals can be photographed and called simply, art. Or, just a few simple ties can be used for a fun and dirty scene in the bedroom.

Have fun.