Photo/Illutration Masanori Hata in 2010 (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

A young woman came to Tokyo to see Mutsugoro, whose real name was Masanori Hata.

She introduced herself as Emi, who as a tot used to chum around with him at the Mutsugoro Animal Kingdom in Hokkaido. Now she was grown up.

Wanting to say something to Emi, Mutsugoro told her how a tadpole’s tail is reabsorbed into the body as a source of nutrition when the pollywog becomes a tiny frog.

Emi replied: “The tail must be a storehouse of nutrition. I can see that. I have never forgotten Hokkaido where I lived until I was 5 years old. Hokkaido must have been my tail.”

Mutsugoro held Emi in a bear hug, he recalled.

At his animal kingdom, Mutsugoro slept with bear cubs, raced the land on horseback and even raised an orphaned baby seal with mouth-to-mouth servings of milk.

The communal life he led against the stunning backdrop of Hokkaido’s four seasons was televised and taught the toughness and beauty of life to viewers. The show aired for 20 years and registered its highest viewer rating of 30.2 percent.

When an interviewer asked him how many animals he kept there, Mutsugoro shot back, “You don’t count animals.” And to the question of which animal was his favorite, he answered with the question, “Can love be ranked?”

And he explained: “Humans and animals are completely the same. We don’t rank siblings to treat them accordingly. You are asking the wrong questions.”

Without such a strong conviction, Mutsugoro couldn’t have got so many animals to open up to him. I thought of Hata the zoologist as the closest real-life version of Dr. Dolittle, an iconic character in the books written by Hugh Lofting (1886-1947).

Hata died on April 5 at age 87.

Not only Emi, but countless other people must have received emotional nourishment from the purity and the freedom with which he lived his life.

I can imagine hearing his hearty, spontaneous laughter ringing out somewhere.

--The Asahi Shimbun, April 8

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

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