It’s been almost a decade since the radioactive leak at Fukushima happened, but Mr. Kato still decided to stay here. He said he wanted to take care of these abandoned cats, even if he died soon
Kato currently has 41 feral cats, most of which were abandoned by their owners when they fled Fukushima.
He also raised a dog named Pochi: “I don’t want to leave, I like the mountains, the river here”
Mr. Kato’s house near the field is being disinfected and is in a restricted area
Kato’s life is quite difficult without running water, he has to get water from a stream near his house and use public toilets. Before the disaster, he was a small businessman!
Kato lives in a decaying two-story wooden house. After the earthquake in February, the house was significantly damaged, Mr. Kato assessed that this house could only be used for another 2 to 3 years.
A feral cat jumped out of a window after Mr. Kato brought it food
On average, he spends about $7,000 on feral cats and other animals that live around.
Mr. Kato shared that he wanted his action to spread more to everyone, hoping to be able to decontaminate this area so that people could return to continue living.