Last Visit to Salon Kitagawa
Dec. 3, 2005 by Shin
After the closure of Incubus, Salon Kitagawa became the main place we regularly went to. It was lucky that we were introduced to Kitagawa san. I believe the people we met here, though all amateur shibari fans, are among the best in Japan. Perhaps even the world? Here I saw the best shibari I have ever seen, and learnt a lot too. Now that I am leaving for Taiwan permanently in January next year, this may be the last time I visit Salon Kitagawa.
Kitagawa san caught a cold, and everyone was just sitting and chatting. So we decided to do the first shibari tonight. I attempted at trying Teppou (”gun”, named so because it looks like carrying a gun on the back), which I saw Pedro doing many times several weeks ago. When you do shibari, however, you know you are not in good condition at the moment you start the first knot. Things just did not feel right. The ropes did not go smooth, the knots got loose, everything just felt unbalanced.
My fellow sportsmen friends told me that one’s personality is best observed in sports. I think it is the same shibari. In the past few months I’ve become short-tempered and irritable. I felt angry as I was tying, hating everything from small twists on the rope to the clothes akane wore that always jammed the rope.
Yokotsuri, imitating Pedro.
The weight distribution between the waist and the thigh is very tricky.
After an unsuccessful suspension I gave up. Kitagawa san suggested me to start with something simpler, so I did yokotsiru again. This time I tried a slight different variation looking more like Pedro’s way: re-adjusting the leg after the body is suspended so the leg could be lifted higher. However, the weight distribution between the waist and the thigh has always been a tricky thing to me. Several centimeters could make huge difference. And I did not do it right this time.
Akaneko looked me in fear: “You look scary. What are you angry with?”
“I’m just angry with myself.”
After taking some rest, I felt I should apologise but did not know what to say. I touched her face. She was not angry with me. “Let’s practice again!” She said.
We tried a slight variation of gyaku-ebi, before we tried Teppou again. Kitagawa san examined the knots on akane’s back, “it should be alright this time,” he said. It was. It is difficult to describe what made the difference. Slight differences in tension here and there, all these together results in a more balanced structure. Shibari is a difficult art.
A more “vertical” variation of gyaku-ebi.
The waist took part of the weight.
Teppou worked this time.
Before leaving, akane asked for Kitagawa san’s permission to leave a Polariod photo on their wall, as a memento that we have been here. Kitagawa san kindly agreed, so we would do our last shibari here. To be safe, I did yokotsuri yet again. For variation I used the spider web decoration. A mixed feeling came to me however. I was quite proud of this spider web when I (re)invented it two months ago. Now it all looks like redundant, over-doing decoration to me.
Time to say goodbye. I expressed my gratitude to Shioda san and Runa san as well as Kitagawa san’s partner Kei san. It was a pity that I could not see Kitagawa’s shibari for the last time. I did not know what to say to express to him my gratitude. At the door I opened my arms to him. For a moment he was confused, until he understood and hugged me. “Hug, hug!” He said with smile.
Farewell.
December 17th, 2005 at 12:58 am
しん君
今日の横吊り 良かったよ。
あかねこちゃん
今日の撮った写真ＵＰしてね。
December 19th, 2005 at 2:18 pm
日本語訳がつくまで待ってました(苦笑)精度の悪い翻訳ソフトで訳してみましたが意味不明になっちゃってましたからね。
率直な感想なのですが、Shinさんホントに縛り上手くなりましたよね。最初の頃、横吊りってこうやるんだよって教えたのが懐かしいどころか、自分なりにアレンジされて素晴しい横吊りが完成しているのは素晴しいの一言です。
意欲的なShinさんの縛りが見られなくなってしまうのは寂しい限りですが、台湾でも日本人に負けない位の緊縛を続けて下さいね。
ポラロイドはサロンのコルクボードに大切に飾らせて頂きます。
追伸:あかねこさん単身でもお気軽にサロンに遊びに来て下さい。
December 19th, 2005 at 9:13 pm
(Shioda さんへの MM Shin より返信）
Shioda さん、メッセージありがとうございます。
Shioda さんにコツを教わるまで、何度横吊りを失敗したことか・・・。あれは自分にとって横吊りの分岐点でした。本当に感謝です。
あと、台湾の Vivi への縛りもすごかったです。細かい所まで美しい縛りでした。それ以来、自分もそうありたいと思っているけれど、まだまだみたいです。頑張ります。
私たちにとっての最後の緊縛会で Shioda さんが見せてくれた「横吊りの究極型」も忘れません。
良い思い出ばかり、本当にありがとうございました：）
Shioda san, thank you for coming here to leave a message!
I remember keeping failing to do yokotsuri, until you taught
me the important trick. It was a big break through for me.
I owe you a big thank you.
Another impressive moment was when you were tying
Vivi. Every detail was done so beautifully. Since then I
always wish I could do like that too. However, I am still
not careful enough. I’ll keep working on that.
I’ll remember the “ultimate yokotsuri” you showed us that
weekend. Thank you for giving me a good memory in Japan.
April 23rd, 2006 at 7:16 am
epicure, akaneko,
I just came across your blog, and I’m kicking myself for not finding it sooner. The pictures are beautiful, but better is the honest way you both talk about how the ropes make you feel, about overcoming difficulties, etc.
I produce a podcast on rope bondage, and would like to feature your site in my next podcast, just so that my listeners (many of whom know very little about rope bondage outside of the American, European, or Australian continents) can see real people doing real bondage.
I hope that you will continue your exploration, and at the very least this email finds you well.
April 27th, 2006 at 9:54 pm
Dear Graydancer,
Thanks for visiting and leaving a comment! I’ve taken a brief look at your site. It looks great! Most Asian shibari practitioners, conversely, do not know about rope bondage outside Asia. So it would be great to have a chance to communicate. I’d be glad to join your PodCast.
However, I have just moved to a new location. Everything is still settling down — as you can see, this website has not been updated for a while. Some links, due to technical problems during moving between machines, do not even work yet.
I will try to get the site to work within a month. At that time I will contact you again.
Wish you all the best!