I thought I was photographing a city, but I was photographing time.
I thought I was following the light, but I was witnessing a moment that would never return.
October 23, 2026, shortly after 11 a.m.
I have woven 79 photographs taken in Osaka’s Umeda North Yard into a 4K film, accompanied by Natsuho Murata’s performance of Ravel’s Tzigane.
The performance comes from her recital at the Auditorium Due Pini in Rome on November 22, 2025.
Of this recital, lasting a little over an hour, I state unequivocally:
It is a historic performance that vividly demonstrates Natsuho Murata’s genius of the highest order.
Jascha Heifetz, the twentieth century’s “violinist of the century.”
The first person I name as his successor is Natsuho Murata.
For me, Natsuho is the twenty-first century’s “violinist of the century.”
This recital in Rome engraved that conviction upon me.
Tone, technique, and a profound instinct for song.
They become one, awakening astonishment at how much music a human being can draw from a violin.
From the moment a note sounds, the listener’s very sense of time becomes filled with music.
That is why I wish to preserve this performance alongside my photographs for the future.
Ravel’s Tzigane.
I have paired its unbridled song and fiery virtuosity with the morning light of Umeda.
Resonance born in Rome and light encountered in Osaka.
Two moments born on different days, in different cities, meet within this film.
Photography holds a moment still.
Music opens a deeper dimension of time within it.
As I look at these 79 photographs, Natsuho’s violin allows me to rediscover expressions of the city that I could not put into words when I took them.
A city is made of more than buildings.
It is also made of the light that has passed through it and the gaze of those who have stopped to look.
I wish to bring this historic performance together with that gaze.
To pass on to the future the greatness of the music we have been fortunate enough to encounter in our own time.
Umeda, shortly after 11 a.m.
Looking into the passing light, in search of what does not disappear.
Photography and video production: MIKIO KISARA
Date photographed: October 23, 2026, shortly after 11 a.m.
Location: Umeda North Yard, Osaka, Japan
Photographs: 79
Video: 4K
Music: Maurice Ravel — Tzigane
Violin: Natsuho Murata
Performance date: November 22, 2025
Venue: Auditorium Due Pini, Rome, Italy