Yuma Koda turns loneliness into something beautiful on “Images on Loan”
Tokyo-based composer Yuma Koda has spent the last few years making music for films, fashion shows, installations and pretty much anything else that can be made a little more interesting with sound. Now he’s turning his attention to his debut solo album, and “Images on Loan” is our first taste.
Written by Koda and co-arranged with prolific drummer Shun Ishiwaka (Answer to Remember, SMTK), the track traces feelings of loneliness and remembrance. It features a spoken-word performance from Jan Urila Sas that feels like a negotiation with emotion in real time, alongside key figures in Japan’s new wave of contemporary jazz: Kei Matsumaru on saxophone, Marty Holoubek on acoustic bass, and frequent collaborator Takuro Okada on guitar.
Growing up, Koda spent much of his childhood in an independent movie theater run by his father, immersing himself in a wide range of films from an early age. While studying classical music theory in Italy and Japan, he developed a deep interest in jazz and electronic music and was strongly influenced by Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu.
Between 2017 and 2019, Koda divided his time between New York and Japan, forming close creative relationships with artists across disciplines, including filmmaker Neo Sora, painter Yukimasa Ida, and Tenchi Yoshimoto of the fashion label amachi.
In recent years, Koda has increasingly embraced installation as a medium. Projects such as In Our Time (Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre, 2025), Garden of Temporary Traces (Studio 525, New York, 2025), developed in collaboration with Audio-Technica, and a collaboration with UNIQLO and Hamburg Ballet’s youth company have explored memory, place, and sound through immersive environments. All of these influences go into making Koda’s debut a series of richly layered compositions that draw from a variety of places.
Listen to “Images on Loan” below, and stay tuned for more from Koda coming soon.
Yuma Koda – Images on Loan (feat. Jan Urila Sas, Shun Ishiwaka)
