Brambles & Vanilla

Sweetness with a Sting

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Hikari Kesho on Shibari

Italian-born photographer Hikari Kesho, aka Alberto Lisi, shares his insight into Shibari:

From antiquity to today, religious ceremonies in Japan involve ropes and ties to symbolize connections among people and the divine, as well as to delineate sacred spaces and times.
Everyday’s life was somehow tied together, just think of the Kimono, which has neither buttons nor hooks, but is closed by ritually tying long strips of fabric around the body. Military armor was made of lacquered wooden panels, elegantly tied together. Gifts were intricately wrapped and elaborately tied, and these custom holds true even today. Goods are prettily and functionally wrapped in the Furoshiki (square cloth), and packages are adorned with Mizuhiki (intricate cord tyings) so as to be pleasing to the eye.
The art of Japanese bondage has a long tradition and has been perfected over many centuries. It serves not only as binding but also as body adornment, and the pressure made by cords can employ Shiatsu techniques.
Shibari is built up of many ropes, each one doing its job, each one contributing to the total effect. Every knot has its historic significance and all of them have to do with the roots of Shibari in Hojo-jutsu (the martial art of restraining captives). There is even a form of bondage for noble captives where actual knots were not used at all and the prisoner was on his honor not to escape.

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