Kinbaku is the Japanese word for rope bondage: In the west it is often referred to as Shibari. Although it originated in Japan as a means of restraint and torture, during the last hundred years it has also been used as an activity which gives emotional, physical, and visual pleasure for the participants. Nawashi Murakawa, the Artistic Director of the annual London festival of the Art of Japanese Rope Bondage provides the historical context for the practice which goes back 12000 years. He also explains how Kinbaku has developed as a dramatic art form which is performed in front of audiences in...