Post date: Apr 16, 2012 10:11:52 AM
Japanese man goes nude for 20 years, living alone on Japanese desert island of Sotobanari.
SOTOBANARI ISLAND, OFF WESTERN COAST OF IRIOMOTE ISLAND, OKINAWA PREFECTURE, JAPAN -
Surrounded by dangerous currents and without a drop of fresh water, even local fishermen rarely land on Sotobanari island in the remote west of Japan's Okinawa prefecture.
But all alone for two decades, 76-year-old Masafumi Nagasaki has made this desert island an unlikely retirement home -- with an unusual dress code. Braving typhoons and biting insects, Nagasaki is a hermit in the buff.
"It must have been about the second year I came here, and there was this typhoon that smacked into the island head-on. For about a year there was none of this shade, I just scorched under the sun. It was at that point I thought this was going to be an impossible place to live," Nagasaki told Reuters in an encounter on Sotobanari island, which translated from the local dialect appropriately means "outer distant" island.
After a brief career as a photographer, and a longer one in the murkier side of the entertainment industry, Nagasaki says he wanted a place to retire away from it all.
For the first year, he still rushed to throw on clothes when boats passed his way. But slowly the island stripped away his embarrassment.
"I don't do what society tells me but I do follow the rules of the natural world. You can't beat nature so you just have to obey it completely. That's what I learned when I came here, and that's probably why I get by so well," Nagasaki 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 added.
But he does puts on clothes once a week for a trip to the nearest settlement, about one hour by skiff, to collect 10,000 yen (120 U.S. dollars) his brother sends him each month.
With that he buys fresh water and food, including his favorite sweet-and-sticky rice balls.
And what may seem like a carefree lifestyle, Nagasaki also sets himself a strict timetable.
He begins the day with stretches in the sun on the beach. From there the day then becomes a race against time, as he prepares food, cleans camp and washes in buckets of rainwater before the light falls and insects come out to bite.
It is not the healthiest of lifestyles, he admits -- but then that's not the point.
"Finding a place to die is a really important thing to do, and I've decided here is the place for me," Nagasaki said.
"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 you know, to die here, surrounded by nature like this, you just can't beat it can you?"