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Meet The Man Who Returned To Fukushima To Feed The Animals That Everyone Else Left Behind

The Fukushima disaster was a nuclear disaster at the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant in Japan that began on March 11th, 2011. It resulted in a nuclear meltdown of three of the plant’s six nuclear reactors. The failure occurred when the plant was hit by a tsunami that was the result of a 9.0 magnitude earthquake. The following day, March 12th, substantial amounts of radioactive material began to be released. This made it the largest nuclear incident since the Chernobyl disaster that occurred in April of 1986. Although no fatalities due to short-term radiation exposure were reported, approximately 300,000 people were evacuated from the area. Due to various reasons, the people who were evacuated were not able to take their pets or farm animals with them when they were evacuated. This is where Naoto Matsumura comes into the picture. He is a fifty-five year old construction worker. He lives in the evacuated zone to care for the animals left behind. Why would he do that you might ask? Because they needed him.

Every day he is there, he is risking his own health and safety to care for the many animals that were abandoned when the are was evacuated.

Meet The Man Who Returned To Fukushima To Feed The Animals That Everyone Else Left Behind
Naoto Matsumura

 Here he is feeding and caring for other people’s farm and domestic animals.

Meet The Man Who Returned To Fukushima To Feed The Animals That Everyone Else Left Behind
Naoto Matsumura

He has come to be known as the “Guardian of Fukushima’s Animals.”

Meet The Man Who Returned To Fukushima To Feed The Animals That Everyone Else Left Behind
Naoto Matsumura

 It’s pretty obvious that he is a great lover of animals.

Meet The Man Who Returned To Fukushima To Feed The Animals That Everyone Else Left Behind
Naoto Matsumura

He knows that every day he is there, his body is getting subjected to major radiation.

Meet The Man Who Returned To Fukushima To Feed The Animals That Everyone Else Left Behind
Naoto Matsumura

He says that he, “Refuses to worry about it.” He does take steps, however, by only eating food imported into the zone.

Meet The Man Who Returned To Fukushima To Feed The Animals That Everyone Else Left Behind
Naoto Matsumura

 He left when everyone was first evacuated, but returned after to take care of the animals.

Meet The Man Who Returned To Fukushima To Feed The Animals That Everyone Else Left Behind
Naoto Matsumura

 He is currently the only human brave enough to live in the evacuation zone.

Meet The Man Who Returned To Fukushima To Feed The Animals That Everyone Else Left Behind
Naoto Matsumura

 Some people call him radioactive man.

Meet The Man Who Returned To Fukushima To Feed The Animals That Everyone Else Left Behind
Naoto Matsumura

 Like a super hero, of sorts.

Meet The Man Who Returned To Fukushima To Feed The Animals That Everyone Else Left Behind
Naoto Matsumura

 He doesn’t think of himself as a hero.

Meet The Man Who Returned To Fukushima To Feed The Animals That Everyone Else Left Behind
Naoto Matsumura

 He originally went back to care for his animals. He said that he really had nowhere else to go.

Meet The Man Who Returned To Fukushima To Feed The Animals That Everyone Else Left Behind
Naoto Matsumura

 Then noticed all the other animals that were in need of help.

Meet The Man Who Returned To Fukushima To Feed The Animals That Everyone Else Left Behind
Naoto Matsumura

He said, “They also told me that I wouldn’t get sick for 30 or 40 years. I’ll most likely be dead by then anyway, so I couldn’t care less.”

Meet The Man Who Returned To Fukushima To Feed The Animals That Everyone Else Left Behind
Naoto Matsumura

 A lot of animals were chained up by their owners, so he set them free.

Meet The Man Who Returned To Fukushima To Feed The Animals That Everyone Else Left Behind
Naoto Matsumura

The government has forbidden him from staying, yet he remains.

Meet The Man Who Returned To Fukushima To Feed The Animals That Everyone Else Left Behind
Naoto Matsumura

This is a really interesting video about Naoto and the disaster. You can tell he has a great sense of humor.

More info: Naoto Matsumura

Naoto has now been in the evacuation zone for about 4 years and has no plans to leave. If you are wondering where he gets the money to pay for all of the food for the animals, the answer is pretty great. All of the money comes from donations from supporters of his cause. If the donations ever dry up, he would no longer be able to feed and care for all of the animals in the evacuation zone. Now that you have read a little bit about this horrible nuclear disaster, go here and look at some of these natural disasters.