Japan’s streets are full of life, and some of the most charming residents are the city’s stray cats. Photographer Masayuki Oki has spent years roaming the streets and famous cat islands, capturing these cats in their everyday moments—whether they’re playing, napping, or just looking curious.
Oki’s work has captured the attention of cat lovers around the world. With more than 500 thousand followers on Instagram and several photo books and calendars published, he continues to document the quirky, funny, and sometimes tender lives of cats. Scroll down and meet Tokyo’s stray cats through Oki’s lens!
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Masayuki Oki didn’t start out as a cat photographer. He worked in the clothing industry and only picked up a camera for his job. It wasn’t until 2013, during a break in a Tokyo park, that he met a stray cat named Busanyan Senpai. “It was a gray cat with a spiral pattern like an American shorthair. I wondered how it was living there,” he recalls. That encounter sparked a passion that would change his life.
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From that day, Oki began photographing every cat he could find, learning to notice their emotions, gestures, and personalities. “I realized these cats had complex emotions, expressions, and gestures. I also discovered that cats have complex relationships just like humans,” he says. His work goes beyond cute snapshots, showing how cats interact with each other and their surroundings in ways people rarely notice.
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Oki’s dedication is clear in the time he spends capturing the perfect shot. On Japan’s cat islands, he photographs from dawn until evening, editing his images the same day. “Sometimes I feel as if the cats are telling me to capture the moment, making them my photography teachers,” he shares. His patience and careful observation allow him to reveal moments of playfulness, curiosity, and even mischief that make each cat memorable.
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Today, Oki’s photography has reached people all over the world. With hundreds of thousands of followers on Instagram and several published books, he continues to inspire cat lovers everywhere. “I want to make all the cat lovers of this world happy with my photos,” he says.
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