Toshiyuki Suma

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Toshiyuki Suma

Suma (須磨) family name, Toshiyuki (利之) first name, (1920-1992)


Painter/illustrator, rope artist, writer and editor. Suma did editorial work for early SM magazines such as Kitan Club, Uramado, SM Collector, Abu Hunter and SM Kitan. He played an important role in the formation of post-war SM culture and left behind a large body of work as a writer, artist and kinbakushi.

Alternate Name(s)

須磨利之(Japanese), Reiko Kita, Kou Minomura, Kyoji Minota, Eijiro Takenaka[note 1], etc..


Since it is believed that Suma's autobiographies include some invented anecdotes, the biographical data below could contain inaccuracies. Therefore, the following biography may be corrected in the future.

1920: Born in Kyoto to a family that ran a printing business out of their home[note 2][1].

c. 1932: As a child, he encountered Seiu Ito's torment art in the book Documentation on Abnormal Customs, which he found in his grandfather's book collection[1][2].

1930s: Left the Kyoto School of Fine Arts at mid term and became the live-in apprentice to the Japanese painter Baisen Kobayashi[note 3][1][2].

1939 (May): Volunteered for the Navy in Maizuru, Kyoto[3].

1944 (March 18): Suma's ship, the Hokuriku Maru, sank in the Bashi Channel[note 4].

c. 1945: Suma was discharged from the Navy and wandered across Japan and was employed at various jobs before becoming an editorial reporter for the evening newspaper Central Kyoto News.[2].

1947 (summer): Kiyoshi Sugiyama, who worked at the Central Kyoto News, took Suma to the editorial office of Kitan Club (Akebono Shobo), which gave Suma a chance to begin drawing illustrations for Kitan Club[note 5]. There were other irregularly published pulp magazines besides Kitan Club, and Suma drew illustrations for Jouen Shin-syu and others as well.[note 6][2].

1950: The name "Reiko Kita" and "Toshiyuki Suma" began to appear on Kitan Club[4].

1951 (December): Began full participation at Kitan Club[4].

1952: Kitan Club changed from a size of A5 to B5 and promoted its "abnormal" content.

1953: Resigned from Kitan Club and published the private fanzine called Tanoshimi Soushi[2][note 7]. Reiko Kita's art appears in the December issue of Fuzoku Soushi.

1954: Traveled to Tokyo in the autumn of 1954[5][note 8]. He meets Seiu Ito in person for the first time[note 9][1][2].

1955: With the cancellation of Fuzoku Soushi, Suma began working for Amatoria magazine (published by Kubo Shoten), and he launched Kappa the predecessor of Uramado.[2][note 10].

1956: Founded Uramado magazine, published through Kubo Shoten[6].

1959: Intesified his association with Oniroku Dan around this time[Citation needed].

1960: Uramado changed from edge binding to inner binding and championed the "abnormal magazine."

1961: Hiroshi Urado participated in Uramado's editing room.

1962: Passed the editorial baton to Chimuo Nureki, who became Uramado's new editor-in-chief. Worked on editing Light and the girls' magazine Lyric Literature[2].

1970: Suma and Chimuo Nureki left Kubo Shoten and founded Abu Production, where Suma was an executive head. They published Abument which terminated in Sep. 1970.

1970 (November): Involved in the foundation of SM Select.

1971 (October): Involved in the foundation of SM Collector.

1970s: Suffered a cerebral aneurysm; received treatment at Spring Sanatorium in Shichi-zawa, Atsuki city, Kanawaga[6].

1989: The documentary video Jouen - The world of Minomura Kou was made by Syoichi Yoshimura. Directed by Haruki Yukimura. Chimuo Nureki, Oniroku Dan, Tetsuro Sakuragi, Go Arisue, Yoji Muku and Syoichi Yoshimura appeared in the video.

1992: Died at the age of 72.

Interesting point(s)

  • Suma's nomme de plume of "Minomura Kou" was taken from the Malaysian expression, "A little rest."[6].
  • It seems that Suma was commissioned by Edogawa Ranpo to paint a boy's picture[5].
  • There is a tape recording of war anecdotes[note 11] exchanged between Terayama Shuuji and Suma Toshiyuki[5].
  • Suma Toshiyuki was a boxing fan. One day, Suma took Chimuo Nureki to a bar called Tako Beya (Tako Room, which means cramped quarter) and told him, "This is a bar run by Kappa Seisaku (Hachiro Tako), a former domestic boxing champion."[7]

Selected Works

Magazine Articles

  • A Great Star Has Fallen (SM Collector, Nov. 1980. Memorial dedication to Seiu Ito)
  •  Spring Rope Series[note 12] (Monthly serial in SM Collector, Oct. 1978 - July 1979)
  • My Rope's Personal History (Monthly serial in SM Collector, June - Dec. 1981)
  •  Kou Minomura's Obscene Record
  •  Pacific War SM Ballad
  •  Biographies of a Bound Prostitute (Reprint[note 13]) (Monthly serial in S&M Sniper, May 1993 - Jan. 1995)
  •  Rope Companion Record (Serialized in Kinbiken News, April-May 1990. March - June 1991)

Photo Collections

Kou Minomura Beautifully Bound July 1953. Photography by Tetsuzo Tsukamoto.


  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Minomura, Kou. "A Great Star Has Fallen." SM Collector Nov. 1980: 96-111. Print.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Akio, Fuji, Masami Akita, and Chimuo Nureki. History of Japanese Kinbaku Photography 1. Tokyo: Jiyukokuminsha, 1996. Print.
  3. Shimokawa, Koushi. The Paradise Trade - A History of the Essential Nature of Post War Accounts. Tokyo: Chikuma Shobo, 1998. Print.
  4. 4.0 4.1 "Kyoji Minota" in SMpedia
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 Kitahara Dohmu. Tokyo Fetish Club. Tokyo: San'ichi Shobo, 1996. Print
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 Nureki, Chimuo. The Artists of Kitan Club. Tokyo: Kawade Shobo Shinsha, 2004. Print.
  7. Nureki, Chimuo. Nureki Chimuo's Chat Theater #97. 2009. Web. 19 Oct 2009.


  1. Painted in the style of Eitaro Takenaka. Years later, Suma was visited by Eitaro Takenaka's son, the critic Tsutomu Takenaka.
  2. After his father's death, Suma's uncle, Kanbee Suma, became the head of the family.
  3. in a place called the Saganosho Babachou Tenryuji in the Ukyo ward of Kyoto.
  4. Suma's account could be nothing but a fictional story, but a merchant transport ship called the Hokuriku Maru actually existed. The Hokuriku Maru was commissioned by the Navy in 1941 and served in the sea battles of Guadalcanal, Midway and the attack on Menado in 1942. In 1944, the Hokuriku Maru left Singapore loaded with 6700 tons bauxite, 600 tons of oil, 256 soldiers and headed toward Moji. On March 18th at 1:14 a.m., while in the China Sea roughly 300km southeast of Hong Kong, an ammunition explosion in the second hold caused the first hold to explode, which ignited and detonated the oil tanks in the third hold, reaching the engine room. Everything was lost in five minutes. Eight soldiers, 25 guards and 55 sailors perished.
  5. There's a conflict in stories between whether Kitan Club was founded in 1946 or in October of 1947. A visit will be made this summer to try to confirm the latter.
  6. Shizuo Yagi, who used the alias Mineko Tsuzuki, took over as editor of Glamorous New Collection.
  7. Tanoshimi Soushi which earned about twenty fans and printed some 20-50 copies. The magazine continued for eight issues.
  8. Seiu Ito and Torirou Miki are considered to have encouraged Suma to go to Tokyo.
  9. Seiu Ito and Reiko Kita had exchanged written correspondence for a number of years before this. At first, Itou believed that Reiko Kita was actually a female artist. Moreover, it's said that until the end of his life, Itou pretended that Suma was Reiko Kita's husband.
  10. The magazine changed its name due to a complaint from Koubunsha, which published Kappa Books.
  11. "At the time he was a prisoner of war, a bunch of enemy army nurses came along and performed "ejaculation derby" with the japanese military prisoners, and at the end strong-chinned 'Utamaro'." However, Suma's account needs verification.
  12. The title varied with each issue, such as "Erotic Rope Abnormal Play," "Erotic Rope's Preferred Setting," etc..
  13. The original is in Byakuya Shobo's Spark.

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