Top 9 Fashion Photographers
to Follow in Tokyo
Right Now

Tokyo has always moved to its own rhythm — a city where avant-garde and tradition coexist effortlessly, where the streets themselves feel like a set and the light carries a particular quality that is impossible to replicate elsewhere. Its fashion photography scene is an extension of that spirit.

We spend a lot of time at Flanelle looking at photographers — scrolling feeds, reviewing submissions, collaborating on editorials. Tokyo keeps producing visual talent that stops us in our tracks. These nine photographers aren’t just skilled technicians; they each bring something distinct to the frame. A mood. A tension. A point of view that is unmistakably their own.

Whether you’re a brand scouting for your next creative partner, a model looking to build your book in Tokyo, or simply a lover of fashion photography — this is our curated selection of the names to know right now.

No. 01

Kodai — @kodaiphoto

Tokyo · Fashion & Editorial

There is a stillness to Kodai’s work that is rare in fashion photography — a quality of patience, as if each image has been allowed to breathe. His compositions are atmospheric and deeply considered, rooted in the textures and light conditions unique to Tokyo’s quieter spaces: mossy stone gardens, diffused interiors, the in-between hours.

What distinguishes Kodai is his ability to let garments exist within an environment rather than simply placing them in front of one. His subjects feel discovered, not staged. For any brand looking to communicate depth and intentionality, @kodaiphoto is a name that should be at the top of your list.

No. 02

Hiroki Kato — @hirokikatostudio

Tokyo · Studio & Editorial

Hiroki Kato operates in the space between fashion photography and fine art — and the tension he finds there is extraordinary. His studio work is chromatic and otherworldly, using controlled light and long exposures to dissolve the boundary between a subject and their surroundings. The result is something closer to painting than photography.

His command of colour temperature and motion blur gives his images a quality of transformation — as if the subject is caught mid-metamorphosis. It is the kind of work that demands to be printed large, and sits perfectly in editorials that want to push beyond the conventional. A true studio artist with a singular vision.

No. 03

Kizen — @kizennn

Tokyo · Fashion & Art Direction

Kizen’s photography feels like stepping into a meticulously constructed dream. His sets are elaborate and immersive — petals suspended mid-fall, mirrored ceilings, surrealist juxtapositions of nature and tailoring — yet the images never feel over-produced. There is always an emotional core holding it together.

His editorial sensibility is strong, and his ability to art-direct an entire visual world within a single frame is something fashion houses take notice of. If you follow one Tokyo photographer for pure inspiration on how to build a scene, make it @kizennn. His feed reads like a serialised graphic novel — each image a chapter, the whole greater than the sum of its parts.

No. 04

Ivam IC — @iamivamic

Tokyo · Fashion & Portrait

There is a directness to Ivam IC’s work that cuts through the noise. Where many Tokyo photographers lean into dreamlike abstraction, Ivam approaches fashion with a clarity and confidence that feels international in scope — crisp, architectural, unafraid of negative space. His portrait work in particular has a quality of presence that is difficult to manufacture.

Based in Tokyo but with a sensibility shaped by broader global references, @iamivamic brings a fresh energy to the city’s fashion photography scene. His images work equally well in print and on screen, and his eye for location — Tokyo’s brutalist rooftops and grey concrete corridors — lends his work a distinctive urban edge.

No. 05

Shuhei Tsunekawa — @shuhei_tsunekawa

Tokyo · Beauty & Editorial

Shuhei Tsunekawa works with a restraint that few photographers possess. His images are minimal to the point of near-abstraction — neutral tones, extreme close-crops, a precision of focus that reveals texture and form in unsettling and beautiful detail. His beauty work in particular is among the finest we have seen from Tokyo.

The image above is a perfect illustration: a face tilted at an unexpected angle, botanical marks rendered in smudged ink at the jawline, the whole composition existing somewhere between documentation and surrealism. @shuhei_tsunekawa shoots fashion as if it is the study of something larger — the body, identity, the quiet strangeness of being human.

No. 06

Shota Kamei — @shotakamei

Tokyo · Fashion & Commercial

Shota Kamei has a confident, fashion-forward eye and a particular mastery of colour relationships. His work is clean and commercial in the best sense — images that are immediately legible, beautifully composed, and built to make garments look extraordinary. The bold red coat above, shot against pale architectural stone, is a masterclass in restraint: the image needs nothing more than it already has.

@shotakamei’s work translates seamlessly across campaign, editorial, and e-commerce contexts. His ability to communicate the physical quality of fabric and silhouette through the lens is rare, and his colour instinct — knowing when to amplify and when to hold back — sets him apart from photographers working in a similar lane.

No. 07

Yohey — @yoheyphoto

Tokyo · Portrait & Fashion

Yohey photographs people as if they are the only thing in the world worth looking at. His portrait work carries an intimacy and intensity that draws you in immediately — there is a quality of genuine connection between photographer and subject that is palpable even through a screen. His fashion work is built on the same foundation: the person always comes first.

His images often feature movement — hair, fabric, the slight blur of a turned head — which brings an energy and vitality to his work that static portraiture can lack. @yoheyphoto balances mood and dynamism in a way that feels distinctly Tokyo: contemporary, emotionally resonant, and always with a sense that something just happened or is just about to.

No. 08

Tak Sugita — @taksugitaphoto

Tokyo · Street & Editorial

Tak Sugita shoots on the street the way great documentary photographers approach portraiture — with attention, patience, and a refusal to prettify what is already perfect. His images have a filmic grain and warmth that feel analogue even when they are not: golden-hour light, the geometry of Tokyo’s urban infrastructure, subjects who look like they belong exactly where they are.

There is a particular quality to @taksugitaphoto’s street-adjacent work — an ability to make fashion feel genuinely lived-in. His subjects are at ease, the clothes are worn rather than displayed, and the city is a character rather than a backdrop. For brands whose aesthetic values authenticity and cultural credibility, Tak is a photographer who delivers both, every time.

No. 09

Junya Sui — @junyasui

Tokyo · Portrait & Fine Art

Junya Sui’s photography is quietly extraordinary. His work asks you to slow down — to sit with an image and let it reveal itself rather than demanding your attention immediately. His portraits are intimate and carefully lit, with a softness that is not sentimentality but something closer to consideration: a genuine curiosity about the people in front of his lens.

The image above — a close portrait with cool, almost clinical tones and a gaze that is both vulnerable and entirely self-possessed — is characteristic of his approach. @junyasui’s work rewards close attention. It is the kind of photography that stays with you long after you’ve scrolled past, which in today’s visual landscape is perhaps the highest compliment we can offer.