Mainstream Media Looks at Bakushi (縛師)

We were contacted by a reporter for the Japan Times recently. The Japan Times is a large circulation English language daily newspaper which has been around since the 1800s. The reporter, who is one of their freelance movie reviewers, explained that he was looking for some additional information and contacts for a review he was writing of the film Bakushi.

We did what we could here at TokyoBound to help out. We sent along a photo from our vast and growing library which you probably already saw in a previous gallery if you’re a regular reader.

The piece came out yesterday (Thursday) and, to my surprise, it took up one whole page of the newspaper. And this is a broadsheet paper, not a tabloid. I must admit, I was pleasantly surprised by this. As I mentioned to the writer in an email, I thought it would be smaller and tucked away somewhere so as not to attract too much attention. Boy, was I wrong.

There were three articles in all: the main article about the film Bakushi directed by Hiroki Ryuichi, an interview with Asagi Ageha and a sidebar detailing bars and clubs in Tokyo and Osaka that feature SM shows and events.

The main article, interestingly, is less a review of the film than a look at what inspired the director to tackle the subject and a bit of psychological inquiry into the motivations of the characters involved. Personally, I found this more interesting than a mere review of the technical/artistic merits, or lack thereof, of the film itself. No thumbs up or down; no stars attached.

Well, I give it all a big thumbs up. I thought the writer did an excellent job in his portrayal of the subject matter.

All the articles are now online. I’m including the links here:

Winding Up in Bondage — main article

Selling Women’s Nakedness — interview with Asagi Ageha

Lashings of Rope — bondage venues in Japan

In other news, I was informed by a reader that he really, really likes Aiko-chan and plans to visit Osada Steve at Studio SIX just as soon as Steve returns to Tokyo and puts Aiko-chan on display once again. I told my new-found friend that I wasn’t really sure when Aiko-chan would be returning to Studio SIX. But, we aim to please here at TokyoBound so I decided to put up an extra gallery of Aiko-chan along with a fresh movie. I do believe this about exhausts my supply of Aiko-chan related material — for the time being.

Hopefully, this will hold us over until we can see Aiko-chan, and her amazing tattoos, again in person.

Update: Here’s an article from Mainichi Shimbun about Bakushi in English and a trailer. You will note that the Wai Wai section focuses on the more, shall we say, offbeat news coming out of Japan as originally reported in the notorious weekly magazines. There are some additional kinky links at the end of the article.

KabukiJoe