'Japanese Cast Away': Man who spent 29 years alone on a tropical island returns for final farewell

Nagasaki got fed up with civilisation while working as a photographer in his fifties. In 1989, he left his wife and two rumoured children and moved alone to Sotobanari, a km-wide islet with no fresh water hundreds of kilometres south of Japan’s mainland.
​​Credit: YouTube/Docastawat

Credit: YouTube/Docastawat

Photo : YouTube
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
  • The remote island was densely vegetated but totally unpopulated. Nagasaki was its only resident.
  • Nagasaki didn't return home after spending just a few days on the island. He turned Sotobanari into his new home and lived there all by himself for 29 years.
  • It was in 2018 that he was moved out of the island after a local fisherman spotted him lying unconscious on a beach.
Masafumi Nagasaki has done something all his life that most of us can only dream of. The 87-year-old Japanese man, who is better known as 'naked hermit', has spent nearly three decades alone on a tropical island.
Nagasaki got fed up with civilisation while working as a photographer in his fifties. In 1989, he left his wife and two rumoured children and moved alone to Sotobanari, a km-wide islet with no fresh water hundreds of kilometres south of Japan’s mainland.
The remote island was densely vegetated but totally unpopulated. Nagasaki was its only resident. Are you thinking about Tom Hanks and Cast Away?
Nagasaki didn't return home after spending just a few days on the island. He turned Sotobanari into his new home and lived there all by himself for 29 years.
It was in 2018 that he was moved out of the island after a local fisherman spotted him lying unconscious on a beach. Nagasaki was moved after doctors expressed concerns for his health and said he needed hospital treatment. That's the time his story was revealed to the world.
The 87-year-old man doesn't live on Sotobanari anymore. But recently, he was granted his wish to see his former home one last time.
After four years of living in the city of Ishigaki, Nagasaki went back to his former home on June 16. The group that made the return possible said Nagasaki's stay would be brief and temporary as he can no longer look after himself.
A video shared online captures the emotional moments when the 87-year-old touched the shores of Sotobanari
"His tiny room became like his desert island where he could isolate himself, as it was the only place where he was able to live with clothes off and feel free like he did for the last 29 years," said Spanish explorer Alvaro Cerezo, about Nagasaki's former life.
It is Cerezo's company, Docastaway, that took Nagasaka back to his former home.
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