According to my extensive researches, the Japanese word “shibari” means the act of tying or wrapping or binding something, and is applied to inanimate objects as well as to the human body. There are different views of how its “Japanese Erotic Rope Art” meaning arose. Some say that meaning was invented in the West, others refer to 400-year old Japanese documents showing it applied to rope bondage. That’s a long time before the beginnings of modern erotic shibari, of course. Nevertheless, the word has become established in the west and it isn’t going to go away.

When the Japanese want to talk about the art of erotic bondage as practiced in their country, they are equally likely to use “shibari” or the word “Kinbaku” which translates as “tight binding” or something along those lines. Or, some people tell me, they may well just call it “bondage”...

When I get tired of typing shibari / kinbaku, I’m liable to type s/k instead. Life is too short, and etc..