The world at my feet

Nobuyoshi Araki is one of the best living photographers. He has published over 350 books and is considered one of the most productive artists around the world. Many of his photos are erotic. He is best known for his pictures of bondage, with young women tied and often suspended and entangled in rope.

Now, a young French artist, Benjamin Deroche, has made a series of photos in honour of the master: Tribute to Araki. He has tried to reproduce with a dead chicken the pictures of bondage, with odd, but also disturbing, effects. In a interview given to Liberation’s blog Zoum Zoum, Deroche says Araki is one of his favourite photographers. Goodness knows what Araki thinks about it.

In Tokyo, there is a restaurant where, after lunch, a Ninja master teaches how to move like a shadow and to cast metal stars: it’s the last odd tourist offer in Japan. The tourists, put on the regulation black suit, learn taijutsu (unarmed body combat skills). Then they enjoy themselves with Ninja weapons like the Katana (a sabre), the Bo (a very long stick) and the mythic Shuriken, the rotating blades: it’s an excellent way of digesting a meal. The Japanese tour operator H.I.S Experience Japan has, among its offers, “A day in the life of a Sumo Wrestler” too. I have already booked it. But I hope to not have to put on a Mawashi.

Photo by Laurence Whittemore