Namio Harukawa, Master of Japanese SM Art

In the world of contemporary Japanese art, it is good form to set oneself apart, to make one’s mark. Namio Harukawa thus chose to express his passion, oshiri, meaning ‘buttocks’, and the power games it offers. The work of this artist, who passed away in April 2020, can be discovered in the book Garden of Domina, published in 2012.

Born in Osaka in 1947, the artist worked under a pseudonym: Namio is an anagram of Naomi, the heroine in Jun’ichiro Tanizaki’s novel of the same name. The artist’s surname then pays homage to actress Masumi Harukawa—known for her role in Shohei Imamura’s Intentions of Murder (1964), in which a devoted wife takes on a new life after being assaulted.

Namio Harukawa started out in erotic, fetishist art in the 1960s and 1970s, during which time he collaborated with Kitan Club magazine. No further details are known about this self-taught journey. After becoming a reference in this universe, he specialised in facesitting. He had to wait until 2013 to see his work travel beyond Japanese borders, for an exhibition at the Museum of Eroticism in Paris.

An enterprise of domination

Garden of Domina tells the story of Ohara Kana, a former volleyball player turned model. She capitalises on the filming of an advertisement for a cosmetics company to awaken the employees to the joys of domination. She becomes a director and opens a beauty salon, with services provided exclusively by masochistic men, creating a company that rents out slaves… and a theme park run by slaves. The drawings, in black and white and colour—done on Kent paper—depict, except for a few details, the same scene of a woman sitting on top of a submissive man, crushing him with all her weight while continuing what she was doing: drinking a glass of wine with a friend, smoking a cigarette, or reading a book.

In the 2000s, Namio Harukawa’s work gained popularity particularly thanks to recognition from author SM Oniroku Dan, and also Madonna, who shared his work on Instagram.

Garden of Domina: An Illustrated Story (2012), a book by Namio Harukawa, is published by Pot Publishing Japan.