On how Akane-san gave us everything she had
Recently, I had the pleasure to participate in an unique rope event, Onawa Asobi festival in Antwerp. Originally organised by Yoi Yoshida in Tokyo, Japan, this year it was brought to Europe as a joint effort of BeShibari, shibarista_jesss and Yoi-san.
The idea of the festival is to bring together amateur and professional Shibari enthusiasts and to allow them to present to the audience their way of practicing rope. In 2 days, 14 performances, 30 minutes each, were held during the day, while in the evenings free tying took place during ropejams. The diversity of performances was overwhelming and each of the participants showed us their own way of practicing shibari with heart and dedication. It was eye-opening and very inspiring to see how versatile a tool rope is, and how many different aspects are there to enjoy about it.
There was one performance that left a particular imprint on me and I would like to write about it here. To me it was a perfect illustration of something that I have felt strongly about for a while now and that I feel that is not necessarily talked about enough.
The power that the model has in moving the audience. And the effort and hard work that they put in to be able to do so.
The performance
The performance that I am going to write about was the one of BeShibari and Akane-san. BeShibari is a well known rope artist, teacher and event organiser from Antwerp. Akane-san is one of the most famous Japanese models, being a model of Yukimura-san and Naka-san among others. I'm embarrassed to say that despite this fact I haven't heard about her until this event. This proves my own ignorance of course. But it's also, I think, an illustration of the general tendency in our European community to be much better informed about the riggers than about the models.
It started with Akane-san lying on the floor on her side with her face towards the ground. Already this starting position was indicative to me of her readiness to give, to be sacrificed. Then the chest harness was tied on her not by BeShibari, but by his partner, Shibarista_jesss, which was an interesting and unexpected twist. It felt as if Akane-san was being prepared by Jess, like a prisoner is before their execution, to face her faith that was awaiting her at the hands of BeShibari.
During this first part of the session Akane-san had certain difficulties breathing, you could hear that she had a slightly runny nose and she was struggling to remain in the moment and not focus too much on this nuisance. It is possible, although this might just be my projection, that this actually caused her to go even deeper within herself because she needed to dig further in order to overcome this physical inconvenience and really allow the ropes to penetrate her. Whether that was really the case or not is beyond the point, though. What is the point is that she did go very deep and her total openness and surrender to the tie that came after left me speechless.
I can’t even recall the positions that she had been put in, I remember that they involved a futomomo and a chest harness but that is about it. Because the positions were not at the center of this performance to me. Her sharing with us her vulnerability was. It is hard to pinpoint what exactly gave me this feeling, but I could feel that she surrendered fully to the tie and her faith. She was not trying to escape the pain and struggle, she was not trying to deflect, fight or hide away from it. She was living it fully, to the last drop. And she was showing it all to us.
Some people admire the strength or physical beauty in the models, some people admire their calm or serene way of taking ropes.
I admire vulnerability. I admire the ability and willingness to submit to the hardship and being honest in your expression of it. I admire the ability to open up completely to the ropes, to allow yourself to be free in captivity, to express everything that is inside of you. Let every feeling and every sensation out in the open. I admire the willingness to admit your struggle, to admit your weakness, to allow the ropes to penetrate and transform you. And all this is to me what Akane-san has showed to us.
Seeing her opening up to us, seeing her bare and exposed in front of us, seeing how much she can give and her actually doing it has brought me to tears. With her catharsis in ropes, I went through my own small version of it.
She's moved me, she's made me feel and that to me is one of the main qualities of an artist. Make people go through something with you, take them on an emotional journey, make them feel or reflect. I think that there is no real art without vulnerability, without the willingness of the artist to expose themselves to the spectators. And while I don’t want to take away the importance of BeShibari in creating the space for this beauty and depth to unfold in front of our eyes, it would not happen without the readiness of Akane-san to give it all to us. In that sense Akane-san is definitely an artist to me and with this performance they proved that kinbaku is an art.
Afterthoughts
As a model myself I seek other models that could serve as a role model and inspiration to me. I seek proofs that, despite of what the perception of model's role in the bondage scene nowadays is, our role is essential, inevitable and important. That we are not interchangeable. That we contribute to the tie and to the scene. Because I believe that no matter how remarkable the rigger is, without an equally giving and remarkable model, the tie is not going to shine. And with a remarkable model even simple bondage holds depth and beauty. Because it's depth and beauty that fills it in.
You could say that I have no reason to complain because actually the role of the model in bondage seems to be gaining more and more recognition nowadays. It's important, however, to investigate what is that recognition given for. Is it because they're young, beautiful, flexible or physically strong? These are all admirable traits, but the problem with them is that they are all pretty much inborn and are not something that one can aspire to or can improve upon (at least not to a great degree). So their admiration is happening more in terms of awe than a source of inspiration and empowerment. But maybe there is something else that the models can be recognized for? Not something that they've been born with but something that they've worked on and developed and that can be a source of teaching and inspiration to other models? I believe there is.
I believe that there are many ways in which an experienced and skilled model contributes to bondage and I would love seeing more credit being given to them for it. Not only seeing their beauty and physical strength, but the power of their mind, their readiness to open up and be vulnerable, their ability to engage with the ropes and with their partner and their fluency in receiving and being in ropes.
These are all difficult to master and admirable qualities that any model can develop through hard work and practice. To me they are more praiseworthy than beauty or strength because they're something that takes perseverance and effort to master. And I think that that effort is really visible in the tie.
To me, watching Akane-san in ropes was a source of great inspiration and learning. Not only because she was beautiful but because what she showed to us was a display of her mastery. She showed me something that I, as a model, can aspire to. She made me want to practice modelling so that one day I can go on the stage and give as much as she did and maybe also make someone in the audience go through a journey with me. I hope that it's not only me who sees it that way and I hope that through events like that our sensibility and appreciation of kinbaku will grow not only in terms of rigging, but also modelling abilities.
This event was not only a display of different styles of tying, but also of different styles of being in ropes. Some might say that it's something obvious to say but I feel like it's not, and I feel like it's time to recognize the models for the effort that they're putting into being in ropes. Not simply praising each of them for showing up but recognizing and appreciating what they actually put in. And learn from the ones who inspire us the most.
Thank you to all the organizers, performers and the rest of the participants for this great event. Thank you for filling my weekend with unforgettable moments. Thank you for making me feel and reflect. I hope that we will all learn from this great experience.
