The tight binding of Shibari
This is a fascination of mine, it took root in me about 15 years ago, I also have learned that the term Shibari is most commonly used in the West. The actual art of this is Kinbaku.
Shibari isn’t the wrong term for Japanese rope bondage per se; it’s just it doesn’t quite cut it. Shibari (or shibaru) is a general term in Japanese meaning “to tie.” Kinbaku is a more specific word which involves weaving intricate knots for binding and suspending people for erotic and sometimes artistic purposes. Kin (緊) means “tight” and baku (縛) is “restraint.”
The term shibari has become much more common internationally as the practice has spread and been adapted for non-Japanese audiences and aficionados. If you say “shibari” in Japan people will probably know what you’re talking about, but “kinbaku” is definitely preferred among locals.
Kinbaku has its roots in a practice called hojojitsu used to bind prisoners in Japan a few hundred years ago, kinbaku as we know it wasn’t even a thing until the early 1900s. It didn’t become popular in Japan until the post-war period of the 1950s. For instance, Japanese people and American soldiers traded pulp magazines depicting tied up women during the occupation.
Modern kinbaku is done for pleasure, not punishment, and involves at least two people: the “rope top” or “rigger” (the dominant person doing the tying) and the “rope bottom” (the submissive person being tied). Sometimes these two people switch roles; other times, more than one person might tie or get tied up at the same time.
