From October 8 to 12, 2026, Tokyo hosted the photo exhibition “The World of Yukimura Haruki: 10 Years After His Death,” devoted to the kinbaku (緊縛) master Yukimura Haruki (雪村春樹), who had died a decade earlier. The show was organized and curated by his son, the photographer Higurashi Keisuke (日暮圭介), and was split between two venues.
Yukimura Haruki and the project
Yukimura Haruki (1948–2016) was an AV (adult video) director, video producer and photographer. He began his career as a director specializing in kinbaku and, over time, started appearing in his own works tying the models, in order to highlight the dynamic beauty of the female body during the tying process. In the mid-nineties he developed a style of his own that emphasized “the dynamics of the tying process” and “communication with the person being tied,” and he consolidated it during the 2000s in many productions under the name “Yukimura style.”
Even with health problems, he kept working with passion: he held photo sessions every month until the end, to leave those images as a legacy. To mark the tenth anniversary of his death, his son brought together a selection that captures the “forms” and “expressions” of a master who understood kinbaku as a vehicle for emotion and affection.
Higurashi Keisuke and the continuity of the legacy
Higurashi Keisuke (1977–) is a photographer and art director. His work does not seek novelty of visual expression, but to capture the essence of the subject photographed. He has specialized in fashion photography, a field in which he has received recognition, particularly in the hairdressing sector: he won the Japan Grand Prize in the photography category at the hairdressing competitions of 2008 and 2009. His work also spans K-pop, LDH artists and 2.5D theater, without limiting itself to a single genre.
As the son of a kinbaku master, he took part in photo sessions for the magazine S&M Sniper, collaborations in which his father gave him the professional name “Keisuke Higurashi.” That shared work shaped his way of capturing the essence of his subjects. He also collaborated on cover design and graphic material for adult videos and, in the years before 2026, devoted himself to exhibiting his own photography.
The crowdfunding campaign
The exhibition was funded by a crowdfunding campaign his son launched before the show, open until September 21, 2026. In his message, Higurashi recalled that among the promises he made to his father was to publish chronological works by Yukimura Haruki. He wanted to present the work in the best possible way, as a worthy tribute to his legacy, and for it to reach more people and endure.
The project used the “all-or-nothing” system (All-in): whether or not the goal was reached, the exhibition would go ahead and the rewards would be delivered. The funds went to three purposes: the costs of the exhibition (venue rental, printing and framing of the photographs), the production of the rewards and the production of the photo book (scanning negatives, editing and printing the catalog). The rewards included kinbaku photographs by Yukimura Haruki made during his lifetime; unpublished photographs from his last years; “Yukimura style” photographs by his disciples, with the models Saiki Ichika, Shizuki Iroha and Akane; an acrylic diorama (a 100 mm cube) with one of his works; and two photo books (B5 format, of about 40 and 50 pages), in which the backer’s name could be included. All of them included a ticket to the exhibition.
The Yukimura-ryu team also organized, for the tenth anniversary, the commemorative performance “Yukimura-ryu Nawa Yugi Vol. 4,” subtitled “The Heritage Woven from Different Approaches,” conceived not only as a tribute but as a space for the active transmission of the thinking, aesthetics and expression Yukimura left to later generations, and one of the many initiatives around March 3, the anniversary of his death.
The exhibition
The show was split between two venues in Tokyo, and the prints on display at both were for sale.
- The first floor of Atelier R (free entry) showed photographs by Higurashi featuring the rope work of three instructors who carry on the legacy of the Yukimura-ryu (雪村流) school: Ibarako (Harumayu), Himuro Eve (Haruyoi) and Murasaki (Haruan).
- The second floor of Atelier R (¥1,000) showed the monthly sessions from the last year of his life, in which you can see the fully mature style of his final years.
- Ura-sando Garden showed prints from his early period of analog photography, which are one-of-a-kind.
The exhibition was accompanied by three publications: “Yukimura-ryu,” linked to the works on the first floor, with the work of Harumayu, Haruyoi and Haruan and the models Ichika, Akane and Iroha; “Tsumugi,” with Yukimura’s late work shown on the second floor and the model Iroha; and a third book devoted to his early period, in a limited edition of 100 copies.
There were also public events. On October 10, “Nawa Yugi Vol. 5” was held, with performances by Ibarako (Harumayu), Himuro Eve (Haruyoi) and Nuit de Tokyo (Haru Kakeru). On October 11, the last day of the exhibition at that venue, there was a talk with Kawakami Yu at Atelier R; the live demonstrations by Ibarako and Himuro Eve planned for that day were canceled for various reasons. Visitors were not allowed to take photographs at the exhibition.
EN