Following Street Cats

Do you love street cats as Masayuki Oki loves them? This Japanese photographer is ready to take photos of literally every cat on the streets of Tokyo. He is sure: charm and special charisma are characteristic of all the cats.

However, this was not always the case. Previously, Masayuki-san was quite indifferent to cats. And he didn't even have a high opinion of them: “Before, I was captivated by the stereotype that cats are lazy and dumb. They sleep all day long and don't care about their surroundings at all. This was until I picked up the camera. Everything changed radically".

After that, one fine day, he sat down on a park bench, and... “I was just relaxing on a bench in the park near my office. I was suddenly fascinated by one cat. I took a photo of it. This fascinated me so much that I started taking photos of all the cats in this park. Then I decided to post my photos to Instagram. I didn’t even expect such attention and success”.

Masayuki has plenty of "objects" for shooting: cats in Japan are universal favorites and almost sacred animals. On the city streets, you can find them literally at every step. And every cat is a fashion model!

“I realized that these cute furry animals have extremely deep emotions, their own expressions and gestures. I was also surprised to discover that their relationships are as difficult as ours, humans'. Each cat is a bright personality. A personality with its own unique character."

The photographer's fans call his heroes busanyan, which means an "ugly cat" in Japanese. But this sounds rude only in Russian, in fact, this nickname has no negative at all, it means that we are not talking about domestic cats, well-groomed and kindly kept by their owners, but about street cats, seasoned, sometimes skinned, but incredibly charming...

It is worth noting that even street cats do not look unhappy in the Land of the Rising Sun, they are quite well-fed and happy with life. The thing is that local residents take care of homeless animals, feed them and even castrate them. Apparently that's why they look so well-groomed and shiny.

“All these absolutely amazing crazy expressions of cat muzzles and their inimitable emotions are the driving force behind my creativity. I want to take photos of all of them!" This is what a wonderful cat photographer from Japan says, and you know what? We SUPPORT him!