Seiu Ito and the Bondage Revolution

Inspired by torture, violence, theater and eroticism, he is famous for turning Japanese rope bondage into an art form.

Born in Tokyo in 1882, Seiu Ito was one of Japan's most influential artists, known for his use of kinbaku, the art of erotic bondage. Although he is called the “father of modern kinbaku,” Seiu Ito is also an important figure for his work as a talented painter, photographer, metalworker, ivory carver, sculptor, and, from 1907, a newspaper illustrator and critic.

Kinbaku initially emerged as a derivative of Edo period with the evolution of hojojutsu Binding of criminals and prisoners with ropes with complex speed and techniques has continued to be taught to public order and law enforcement forces until today. However, it was Seiu Ito who transformed kinbaku into an erotic art.

Bondage and Suspension

The artist regularly depicted women, often in abeyance, in his paintings and photographs. One of Seiu Ito's most famous photographs is of his second wife, Kise Sahara, pregnant and suspended by her feet, in Rinketsu Bijin Sakasa Tsuri no Shashin (Photograph of a Beautiful Woman Suspended Upside Down in Her Last Month of Pregnancy). started making suspension with Kise Sahara in 1920

It is said that Seiu Ito was also inspired by the torture scenes of traditional theatre. His first book, published in 1928, Seme no Kenkyu – Torture Research, and in 1953 he founded his own theater group, Seme no Gekidan (Torture Theater Group).

In the 1930s, Seiu Ito's works were widely censored by the authorities. However, he was officially recognized by the Japanese Artists Association in 1960, a year before his death. Her life was brought to the big screen by director Noboru Tanaka in the 1977 film Beauty's Exotic Dance: Torture.

Seiu Ito's Seme no Kenkyu (1928) was published by Shinchosha, but today only collectors' editions exist and no new editions are being produced.