Photobook: Have a Break | Koji Onaka

Eight years after his previous travel photobook Short Trip Again, Koji Onaka returns with Have a Break, a quiet and contemplative journey through Japan’s hinterland. Roaming with his 35mm camera, Onaka spent seven years photographing landscapes and everyday moments across the country—from the northern expanses of Hokkaido to the southern reaches of Kyushu, stopping at countless small stations and towns along the way.

In this volume, Onaka’s distinctive approach to color infuses each page with a gentle nostalgia and warmth. His images linger on unassuming details—empty streets, passing figures, soft sunlight, the presence of a cat—transforming ordinary rural and small-town scenes into intimate visual discoveries. Through his lens, the familiar becomes quietly wondrous, inviting viewers to slow down and share in moments that might otherwise go unnoticed.

As Onaka reflects:

“The photographs do not show anything particularly special that could be taken anywhere but scenes that strangely touched my heart – cityscapes, people, sunlight… or sometimes cats.”