Slow news day around here so I guess I’ll talk about the weather. It’s finally gotten cold in Tokyo. Up until recently it had been unseasonably warm. In fact, it hadn’t snowed and people started wondering if this would be the first winter in many, many years without snow.
Then it happened. That’s what the papers said, anyway. Otemachi got a dusting and someone told me he saw some coming down in Shinjuku. I haven’t seen a single flake.
Just so this post won’t be a total waste of time, I’ve included a couple of pics Osada Steve recently sent me which were published in S & M Sniper magazine. As you can see, one is of Steve’s sensei, Osada Eikichi, when he was still going strong, though not a young man by any means.
The other shows Steve with master Akechi Denki. Akechi sensei has, as I’m sure you know, also passed on.
I will tell you a little of what (I think) I know of Akechi Denki. I read somewhere (don’t remember the source) that he was born with a heart defect. At some point he had heart surgery and this appears to have been successful in extending his life. The article seemed to imply that the operation was so successful that his heart was no longer anything to worry about.
I don’t think that was the case, though.
I was fortunate to meet Akechi sensei in person. This meeting occurred almost exactly one year before his death. If I’m not mistaken, it was at the huge Sadistic Circus event held annually in Tokyo. Steve performed that night as did Akechi sensei. Steve knows I like to meet famous people in the SM scene in Japan so he got me backstage and there was the master, sitting in a chair relaxing after the show.
Even then, a year before his death, he looked frail to me. I sat down next to him and he agreed to have a photo taken with me. A young woman was there who had been his show partner that night. I believe she had become more or less his constant companion/manager by that time.
Thanks to Steve, I have met not only Akechi Denki but also Saotome Hiromi and Naka Akira. The meeting with Naka-san was accidental. We had just gone into some bar and there he was with a gorgeous lady friend. The bar was practically empty at the time so I went over to him and asked for an autograph. This was before I had my camera phone so, lamentably, no pictures of that event.
I just put a piece of paper and a pen on the table and asked him to “sign”. This, by the way, is the word used, not “autograph”. He ignored my scrap of paper and had the lady behind the bar fetch a big piece of heavy paper and a black marker and gave me an autograph suitable for framing — and that’s just what I did.
Naka Akira has been in hundreds of bondage videos put out by the biggest names in the business. You will know it’s him by his colorful tattoos. He was really a friendly guy and I think he was somewhat amused by this gaijin asking him for an autograph.
Ironically, though a relatively young man, Naka-san suffered a heart attack but has since recovered and continues in his activities.
KabukiJoe
