Video Review: "Thirteen years since the Great East Japan Earthquake: The conviction of a man who continued to live in his hometown despite evacuation orders | Fukushima Monologue 2011-2024 | NHK"

Fig. Naoto Matsumura

This is a schematic picture. For real image, the reader can visit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXOGtiMZXtM

 

After the nuclear accident, Naoto Matsumura, a resident of Fukushima, saved over 350 livestock and pets from starvation. Starting from the 10th year after the disaster, he has been striving to restore abandoned farmland. While many farmers gave up cultivating and leased their fields to solar power companies, he resumed rice farming on his own. Even seven years after the evacuation order was lifted, the town's population is about one-seventh of what it used to be. Most of the returning residents are elderly. To bring the taste of home to those who spend their days in solitude, Matsumura continues to fight alone. This story depicts a man steadfast in his beliefs as he faces numerous challenges.

He recalls the time when he first saved the starving dogs. (translation by the author of this blog post).

Around 1:20

“These animals had probably gone more than 10 days without eating anything. They were emaciated, their ribs visibly protruding.”

When this man speaks to dogs, cats, cows, ostriches, and other animals, they respond joyfully, as if they understand his words. His charisma seems to resonate not only with humans but also with animals.

Around 0:21, on the 13th anniversary of the Fukushima nuclear accident, he clasped his hands together in prayer. He is neither an animal rights activist nor a member of any specific religious group

 

There is something about this man's expression and body language that suggests he is no ordinary person.

 

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXOGtiMZXtM