Cute and kinky. Those two words sum up so much about the Japanese erotic.
Kinoko Hajime is one of Japan’s most famous shibari (aka kinbaku) rope bondage artists.
We once visited his BDSM bar in Ueno, only for it later to be raided and shut down by police. Kinoko Hajime was himself arrested, though he has made a comeback, such as holding an exhibition called “Red”.
He now offers lessons and does events like workshops and “cyber neo-shibari” shows.
He has opened a space again but this time it’s not a bar. Instead it’s branded as a “salon” for learning the ropes (sorry for the pun) of shibari.
Judging by his Instagram account — which has attracted some overseas attention recently — Kinoko Hajime has turned a little cuter than his previous dark kinbaku work. He always used colorful ropes with general appeal, but he seems to be casting his net more widely than before.
We are not experts on Hajime’s career by any means, but we don’t think he was this “pop” before. Well, times change and clearly his style is working for him. When the results are this good, we don’t have any trouble with shibari going mainstream. (If you are well informed about Hajime, do please edify us in the comments.)
He has even worked with Sailor Fuku Ojisan (Hideaki Kobayashi).
Now that’s a bondage session we would like to see happen.
