Jan. 16, 2006 by Shin

Beginning of January. I expected that the Incubus Christmas party would be my last SM event in Japan and was preparing my move to Taiwan. Surprisingly, we received an email from the famous nawashi Osada Steve. “Nice website. Why don’t we meet up?”

While people in Taiwan are more familiar with names like Akechi Denki and Randa Mai, Osada Steve, who inherited his name from Osada Eikichi, is undoubtedly among the most well-known nawashis in the western world. After several years of travelling in Asia, he moved to Japan in 1980 to study karate and Aikido. Later he started fetish photography, met Osada Eikichi, and became his apprentice. He almost single-handedly introduced shibari to the western BDSM scene.


Alice and akane

So we met in 16th of January, the day when he had a live performance in Ranbukan, together with our mutual friend Alice. We have met Steve once in Succubus, but this time he looked even taller than in my memory. Steve did not talk much, but was surprisingly friendly and nice. He gave us one of his DVDs as a gift, and wanted to see my shibari. Not having touched the rope for almost a month, I cowardly did my most confidently yokotsuri again…

An established nawashi as he is, Steve still has a curious mind and wanted to know the details he was interested in. Soon it was time for his live performance. Steve suspended the model, and changed position several times. Akaneko was very impressed and could not help praising “The change of positions is seamless! Amazing!”

After the performance it was time for Steve to take requests from the audiences. Alice passed akane’s message to Steve: “akane wants to be tied, but does not want to be the first. So, I’ll do it!” Thank you, Alice. 🙂

Being more familiar with Alice, Steve was able to put more sadistic elements in his shibari with Alice. When he tied akane, he became more careful and gentle. Surprisingly, he wanted me to approach. “I’ll do it slowly so you can learn it.” It was so kind of him!

I’ve met several nawashis in Japan, but none of them were as generous as Steve. He does not hesitate teaching others everything, and does not shy away from asking when he sees interesting bits in other styles of shibari. He is friendly and humorous at times. It is as if he really loves shibari and treats everyone as friends who share the same interest. That is the reason behind his success, I believe.