I self-published the poster-sized photobook Yuumei, a series I have been pursuing as my life’s work.

This volume was completed based on the photobook I developed for the Magnum Photos Photobook Workshop held in November 2024. I participated in the workshop upon recommendation from the Kiyosato Museum of Photographic Arts. Under the guidance of photographer Rafał Milach and book designer Ania Nałęcka-Milach, the process became an intense and deeply enriching experience.

The book has no cover; it begins quietly with the first page of the main sequence.
This structure was born from Rafał’s words: “You are delicate and sensitive, so let’s make a book without skin—completely exposed.”

The pages are printed on thin paper through which the reverse side faintly shows.
Its trembling translucency in light symbolizes the central theme of Yuumei: the threshold between this world and the next, between reality and unreality.

Ania proposed a binding that would feel “regular, yet occasionally leave space.”
I have developed a deep attachment to the arrhythmic stitching that resulted from this idea. The binding thread is originally white but hand-dyed black, leaving subtle irregularities. Each title and signature is handwritten individually in ink.

The process of assembling every detail by hand becomes a meditative dialogue with myself—almost like a Zen kōan.

Though large in scale for a photobook, the finished work possesses a texture and presence distinct from both a photographic print and a conventional photobook. It stands as an art book—an object with its own material and physical existence.

* With heartfelt gratitude to Magnum Photos and the Kiyosato Museum of Photographic Arts.
* Unauthorized copying and reproduction are prohibited.