SAEDNEWS: The Japanese hermit who had spent 30 years naked on a deserted island returned to his idyllic life after being forced by the government to live four years in civilization.
According to Saed News, citing Rozito, 87-year-old Masafumi Nakazaki abandoned clothes and people in his late 80s to enjoy the extraordinary life he had always dreamed of—in peace.
After life in the modern world left him anxious and sad, he was finally allowed to return to his former home on Sotobanari Island, part of the Yaeyama Islands. Free from clothing once again, he feels liberated and wishes to spend the rest of his life—and die—on this tropical island.
Alvaro Serzo, a 41-year-old Spanish traveler, discovered Masafumi while searching for remote islands. Later, he fought with Japanese authorities to return the elderly man to the place he considered truly his own.
Alvaro recalls: “He really struggled in civilization. When we finally succeeded in bringing him back to the island, it was incredible. The moment I told him, he leaped for joy and shed tears. His face lit up like a child’s when he realized he was going home.”
Having spent a few days with Masafumi back in 2014, Alvaro remembers: “He always said he wanted to die on the island. So hearing that he had been forced to leave was heartbreaking.”
Before retreating from civilization, Masafumi had worked as a photographer. After 29 years of living freely on the island, he faced difficulties readjusting to modern life.
Alvaro explains: “In a society like Japan, few people could understand his unusual lifestyle or his desire to live nude on a deserted island. Most people looked at him with a mix of scorn and, frankly, some fear.” Masafumi often locked himself in his room, hiding from the noisy world outside.
His small room became like a desert island of its own—a space where he could quarantine himself and live unclothed, feeling the same freedom he had experienced for 29 years. When he felt too confined, he would occasionally venture outside to collect trash from the streets, distressed by the pollution and waste humans produced.
Nakazaki has decided this island will be his final resting place. He says, “Finding a place to die is important, and I have decided that this will be the place where I die.”
