'Hello, Bunshun-san. Yesterday I wrote in my diary that, 'Well, it's come to this, that I am working with you.'"

So begins a short essay by Haruko Obokata that accompanied three glossy color photographs, called gurabia (short for "color rotogravure") appearing at the front of the May 17 issue of Shukan Bunshun magazine.

The photos were taken by one of Japan's most accomplished portrait photographers, Kishin Shinoyama. Her black, sleeveless dress descends to mid-calf length and the photos are perfectly proper, although one pose, in a prone position with eyes closed, may be considered remotely suggestive.