H E L L O

Nice to meet you.

Hi!

My name is Yuki Matsumura. I’m an introverted Japanese person who is extremely curious in arts, nature, animals, and humanity itself. I believe in the beauty of mundane, compassion, and the power of vulnerability.

I make my living by modeling at the moment, and am represented in Tokyo, LA, Singapore, Bangkok, and Stockholm. I’m also represented in a strong belief of teamwork and human connection. I was extremely fortunate to be able to work with such amazing photographers, stylists, and makeup/hair artists. Without them, my dream of being on a billboard would have never come true. I’m forever thankful for those who I’ve met, and made such amazing arts together. I hope you enjoy my portfolio, AKA “our” hard work!

Besides modeling, I make small money from writing and creating recipes on Yukitchen.com with my own photography and illustrations I paint. It sounds exciting, but I spent the majority of my time in front of my MacBook or at libraries flipping pages while listening to science podcasts.


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You are still here! Okay, here’s some more stuff about me:

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This is my family crest. The three pine trees indicate my last name Matsumura, which means “Pine Village”. I was born and raised in the western part of Tokyo by my very rigorous and stereotypical Japanese family. Both of my parents worked full time, so I was often alone, and also “mildly” bullied most of my childhood probably because I sucked at fitting in. But don’t worry: After all, I am Japanese and we are all samurais, meaning, we are good at overcoming adversity and make the best out of a tough situation.


To avoid the sneaky shuriken attacks that they call “reality”, I spent most of my free time hiding in libraries like a ninja nerd. I was considered boring and I didn’t have so many friends growing up, but I kept myself busy with reading books, drawing, crafting, chasing cats outside, writing stories, and a lot of daydreaming. At an earlier age, I mastered the art of doing “boring” things, which turned out to be the fuel of my creative career later on.

When samurais forget to train and improve themselves constantly, they lose their worth and sense of being. So by the time I finished my adolescence, I went to study abroad to train and improve myself. My missions there were to finish school, and pursue something I really wanted: modeling! So I enrolled myself to go on a pilgrimage to fulfill my aspiration to finish what I started, and being a model, surprisingly, led me to travel more than I expected. What I learned the most during this time were not only new languages, but also new curiosities and interests I picked up from my travels. Cooking, for instance, has become a huge passion of mine.
If you are curious about my introverted training days, below is an interview I did with Wanderlust Magazine 2016. I also did the cover which I still don’t know how that happened. It’s still extremely ticklish for me when I do a magazine cover; I mean, this is Yuki Matsumura, a ninja chick from a small town called Sagamihara, on the cover of a magazine. My jaw still drops when I see my monkey face on publications. I don’t think I will ever get used to it:

 
 
 
 

If it’s the mushier version of “model interview” you are looking for, I believe I have just the thing:

You can read the entire interview here, but I’m warning you: it’s pretty mushy. However, it explains how I got into modeling, and I always loved the tagline they made for me:

“Hailing from Tokyo, Yuki Matsumura packed both her hunger and passion to discover the world”.

It’s obviously exaggerated but don’t tell them that, because it’s the most kick-ass description ever for a girl from Sagamihara!

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When I started to model, I was crazy about Disney-endorsed stuff like “follow your passion” and “discover the world”.

At first, I enjoyed the novelty of it, sort of like playing Final Fantasy. But I recently had a moment of epiphany and realized that life is so much more than a fantasy: it’s an ongoing relentless effort in creativity. The key to this whole idea is “keep moving”. Get up, get dressed, go somewhere, and do stuff. Come rain and shine, I’m at my desk by 8 am. I can’t explain it, but it makes me feel part of something.
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I’m a logical dreamer; – I weep when I watch Ratatouille, but I’m aware that everything has its own endings. One of the main skills I learned from my samurai days is how to maintain both emotional and rational side of myself. It often feels like going to bed with Disney and waking up with Kurosawa, which sounds like a next blockbuster film I just wrote for Hollywood, or introduced you the world of polygamy, but those are not what I’m after.

I’m saying that it’s the balance that you need to maintain.

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I believe life is short. And I have no time to waist. For that, I keep a journal that I write down lists of every single thing I want to do in my life. It can be anything: – “6 things to finish before the weekend”, “5 ingredients to purchase to bake Ostkaka (Swedish cake)”, “3 codes to learn today with Lynda (online programming class)” … Modeling, incidentally, was in my “100 things I want to do before I die” list.

They sometimes ask me what’s my beauty secret when they see me in person. First I look at them in complete disbelief and take 2 seconds to decide if this person is being fastidious or serious. When the latter, I just simply say, “Making lists”.

Thank you, really, for reading what I have to say here. I’m so thankful that you visited my tipsy website I designed with my cat on my lap.

xx

😉
-Yuki Matsumura

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p.s.  All the flower photos were taken by me in my town, Sagamihara.  

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