82-year-old naked hermit forced to return to civilisation
The hermit who had been living alone on a deserted Japanese island has been removed from his home
Masafumi Nagasaki had lived in solitude for almost 30 years, till he was forced to return to civilisation by police after being found unwell.
The 82-year-old is believed to be the longest lasting voluntary hermit in the world.
His recent eviction was covered by Alvaro Cerezo, who documents island castaways. Alvaro had spent five days on the island with Masafumi before his sudden departure.
And Masafumi, who shunned modern life after retirement, had said: “I don’t want to move from here, I will protect this island. I will risk my life to protect this island. I will never find a paradise like this.
“I’ve never felt sad here, I cannot survive if I have those kinds of feelings. Things here are more realistic.”
The wiry Masafumi worked briefly as a photographer before spending several years in the flashy world of the entertainment industry. It remains unclear what he did exactly, as he said he didn't like to talk about his past.
When retirement came, he wanted to get far away from it all. He chose Sotobanari, which is roughly a 1,000 meters across, off the coast of Japan. In an interview to Reuters in 2012, he said for the first year on the island, he threw on clothes whenever boats passed his way.
But slowly the island stripped away his embarrassment.
He said: “Walking around naked doesn’t really fit in with normal society, but here on the island it feels right, it’s like a uniform. “If you put on clothes you’ll feel completely out of place.”
He would throw on clothes once a week for a trip to a settlement an hour away by boat, where he would buy food and drinking water. He also collected the 10,000 yen (£68) sent to him by his family, on which he lived.
His staple food was rice cakes, which he boiled in water, eating whenever hunger struck. Water for bathing and shaving came from rainwater caught in a system of battered cooking pots.
He said: “Finding a place to die is an important thing to do, and I’ve decided here is the place for me.
“It hadn’t really occurred to me before how important it is to choose the place of your death, like whether it’s in a hospital or at home with family by your side. But to die here, surrounded by nature – you just can’t beat it, can you?”
But he can't return to the island and is now living 60km away in a house in the city. Masafumi is among the few voluntary castaways who have spent decades on a deserted island.
He surpassed Australian castaway David Glasheen who celebrates 21 years on Restoration Island, off the coast of Far North Queensland this year, reports News.com.au.
Living in 'paradise'
Masafumi Nagasaki said: “I don’t want to move from here, I will protect this island. I will risk my life to protect this island. I will never find a paradise like this.