Makoto Oya, a former tax accountant from Saitama Prefecture, was arrested in August 2017 after a member of the public alerted police to disturbing footage uploaded to an anonymous video-sharing site [

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If you have not yet fallen down the rabbit hole (or cat tunnel) of Makoto Oya’s YouTube channel, you are in for a masterclass in patience, light, and purring.

These videos function as a form of digital "Ma"—the Japanese concept of negative space. In the silences between the purrs and the subtle rustle of paws on carpet, Oya creates a void that the viewer is compelled to fill with their own quietude. In a modern world defined by the anxiety of constant notification and the tyranny of productivity, the cat in Oya’s videos offers a masterclass in the art of simply being . The cat does not worry about the future; it does not regret the past. It is entirely, fiercely present in the patch of sunlight on a Tuesday afternoon.