Harumi Yamaguchi was born in Matsue in the Shimane prefecture, and graduated from Tokyo University of the Arts with a degree in oil painting. After working for the publicity department of Seibu Department Stores, Yamaguchi began her career as a freelance illustrator, participating in the advertising production for PARCO in correspondence to its opening in 1969. The women that she depicted = Harumi Gals, while in harmony with PARCO’s strategy of the female figure living strongly within the times, had further presented a significant influence on the ways of Japanese society in the latter half of the 20th century. Even after completing their advertising role, the energy of these powerful, bright, and elegantly refined Harumi Gals continue to maintain their vibrancy, fascinating and appealing to many today.

Yamaguchi’s female figures are far from notions of eroticism as portrayed allegedly through male eyes in the form of pin-ups. On the contrary, the women themselves appear to joyously celebrate their own sexuality and existence. Furthermore, the images of women partaking in boxing, baseball, and skateboarding which Yamaguchi had illustrated in the 70s, could be interpreted as an ironic gesture towards a male-dominant society at a time prior to the establishment of the Equal Employment Opportunity Act in 1985; an era when women were unable to equally advance into society.