Oniroku Dan (1931–2011) stands as a towering figure in Japanese SM literature, a writer whose work profoundly shaped the genre’s evolution.
Born just before the upheavals of World War II, he grew up in an artistic household: his father was a screenwriter, his mother an actress, and together they ran a cinema in Shiga, in Japan’s Kansai region.
In 1950, Dan graduated with a law degree from Osaka University, where his family had resettled after the war. During the Allied occupation, he learned English from American troops and even worked as a translator for various media outlets in Tokyo, where he later settled.
By his own admission, Dan’s fascination with SM emerged very early in life.
“Even in kindergarten, I was drawn to it,” he once confessed. “I remember our teacher, a lovely young woman in her twenties. More than anything, I wanted to tie her up…”
By the late 1950s, his short stories were gaining attention and accolades. In 1958, he debuted in the legendary Kitan Club magazine with Town’s End, marking the beginning of a remarkable career.
It was also around this time that he met Naomi Tani, the iconic “Queen of SM.” Their collaboration became central to both their careers and indelibly linked their names to the genre’s rise in popular culture.
In 1962, Dan began serializing Flower and Snake (Hana to hebi) in Kitan Club, laying the groundwork for what would become his most celebrated work.
Across nearly a decade, he published 79 installments, concluding in November 1971. Later, additional volumes and special spin-offs appeared in other venues.
The first cinematic adaptation of Flower and Snake appeared in 1965, produced by Yamabe Pro, where Dan had already worked as a translator and screenwriter. But it was the 1974 Nikkatsu production that truly captured public attention, launching a saga of ten live-action films and several animated adaptations.
Meanwhile, in the late 1960s, Dan was keeping busy writing for SM periodicals while moonlighting as a screenwriter. In 1969, he co-founded Oni Pro, a collective of avant-garde creators inspired by underground culture. Based out of a small apartment in Shibuya, Oni Pro produced magazines, films, and live performances dedicated to SM and bondage.
One striking feature of Oni Pro’s works—and of Japanese performance art more broadly—was their incorporation of humor. Despite their heavy themes, many pieces leaned on gags and comedic flourishes, not unlike Western opera buffa. A similar spirit lives on in artists like Otonawa and his playful TittyTwisted club.
Oni Pro shone brightly but briefly, dissolving in 1974—the very year Nikkatsu unveiled its game-changing Flower and Snake.
That film’s success propelled Dan’s career throughout the 1980s, a decade in which he expanded across every medium imaginable, producing some of his finest works, including two autobiographies.
The 1980s were tumultuous for Dan both personally and professionally. In the midst of Japan’s rapid transformation, he welcomed his second child, mourned his father’s death, endured divorce and remarriage, and went through the cycles of opening and closing production companies and theaters.
By 1989, he announced his retirement from the public grind.
Yet Dan was never one to remain idle. By the late 1990s, he had returned with new vigor, publishing a biography of Itō Seiyū while coping with the health problems that would eventually claim his life.
In 2004, Toei released a new adaptation of Flower and Snake, with rope work by Go Arisue. Reports suggest that Dan was not entirely pleased with the result.
In 2010, he revealed he was battling cancer. Oniroku Dan passed away on May 6, 2011.
Until his final days, he remained active on blogs and social media, offering guidance and inspiration to younger generations discovering shibari.
His boundless creativity, gripping storytelling, and relentless spirit left not only an enduring legacy in the SM genre, but also an imprint on the hearts of those who find beauty in the art of tying and being tied—just as Dan Oniroku had envisioned.