Farmer has lived in exclusion zone since Fukushima disaster

1. Various of farmer Naoto Matsumura feeding pony 2. Pony eating 3. Mid of cows 4. Matsumura calls to cows, cows run away 5. Wide of Matsumura outside house, zoom in to Matsumura with dogs 6. Collapsed house owned by Matsumura 7. Matsumura giving water to ostrich he adopted after it followed his car 8. SOUNDBITE: (Japanese) Naoto Matsumura, farmer who has been living inside exclusion zone: "Nothing has changed here since the March 11th disaster a year ago - in fact things have got worse with houses leaking and falling into disrepair." 9. Wide of stables full of skeletons of cows left tied up when nuclear accident happened 10. Skeleton of cow 11. Wide of deserted Tomioka high street 12. Various of deserted houses 13. SOUNDBITE: (Japanese) Naoto Matsumura, farmer who has been living inside exclusion zone: "I can't say it's one hundred per cent safe to return here, but it's not a problem for people my age. I don't know how people with small children would feel, but I think it's no problem for people my age to return." 14. Tracking view of tsunami damaged area where wreckage still remains as it was on the day of the disaster 15. Matsumura walking through forest 16. Matsumura finds turkey he was going to feed has been eaten by wild animal, looks around STORYLINE: Almost exactly one year after the nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daichi nuclear plant sent local inhabitants fleeing for their safety, little has changed in the deserted town of Tomioka. The once-thriving community of 16,000 people now has a population of one. Naoto Matsumura, a farmer who has continued living in the town since the week of the disaster is carrying on his mission to feed the animals that now roam free. Ponies, cows and even ostriches that were once farm animals now wander wild in the fields. They are the lucky ones - many were left to die where they were tied up when the accident happened. Vines stretch further across the empty streets of Tomioka, and former prim gardens are now completely overgrown with waist-high weeds. But Matsumura believes that it is safe, for adults at least, to return to this nuclear no-man's land. The 53-year-old believes he is the only inhabitant living in this town which lies between the doomed Fukushima Daichi nuclear power station to the north, and another sprawling nuclear plant to the south. He may not be alone for long though, as the government is considering reducing the 20-kilometre exclusion zone around the plant in the coming months. This would end Matsumura's quasi legal status. Although he has defied government orders to leave the area for months, he was given a pass allowing him to pass police roadblocks in order to feed the animals. Matsumura is an anomaly in a country where defiance of the government is rare and social consensus is considered paramount. Yet, Matsumura's quiet civil disobedience speaks loudly of the dilemma facing the more than 100,000 silent "nuclear refugees" who were displaced by the March 11 disaster. What worries the lone farmer now is whether the town's inhabitants will really return when the exclusion zone is lifted. Aside from safety concerns, the radiation has also brought an end to the viability of farming in the area. Matsumura fears that the long term legacy of the disaster will be a further ageing of the community with only retirees returning, and the slow death of the town as no work returns. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/e3f8a9e41053f845bf4f471b1430dcf4 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork