"Please call out the names of your loved ones—human and animal alike—and cherish the time spent with them. Your love will make them smile."

★ A documentary photography book chronicling the decade-long survival story of cats and dogs left behind in Iitate Village, Fukushima, after the nuclear disaster.
★ Japanese photographer Yutaka Kamimura has visited the Fukushima exclusion zone over 250 times in more than 10 years, documenting the true survival stories of 37 cats and dogs through over 150 photographs.
★ Rated 8.2 on Douban; topped the "Pet Books" bestseller list on Dangdong upon publication.
★ Telling the story of the Fukushima nuclear disaster from the animals' perspective, this book speaks to stray animals as equals, urging readers to rethink human-animal relationships and pay closer attention to environmental protection and stray animal welfare.

On March 11, 2011, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster struck. As humans evacuated, all 6,509 residents of Iitate Village were relocated. Their family members—the cats and dogs—were left behind in abandoned homes. Approximately 200 dogs and 400 to 500 cats remained. No matter the circumstances, these animals continued to wait for their owners to once again call the names they once knew. Their lives shone with resilience and optimism.

Japanese photographer Yutaka Kamimura began traveling to Iitate Village in 2012. For more than a decade, he has made over 250 visits, rescuing, photographing, and documenting the cats and dogs abandoned by their original owners in the disaster zone. Throughout the book, he deliberately refuses to use the pronouns "it" or "they" to refer to these animals, instead using "he" and "she"—a quiet act of defiance, and a testament to the love and devotion one reserves for family.
The book chronicles the difficult life stories of 37 cats and dogs, accompanied by over 150 of the most representative and narrative photographs. The orange tabby cat on the cover is named "Mame" (Bean). Before the disaster, Mame's owner, now in his eighties, had been farming in Iitate Village. After the accident, the owner had no choice but to leave Mame at home while he moved into an evacuation shelter. Every four days, he would ride his motorcycle for over an hour from the shelter, bringing Mame his favorite tuna canned food and salmon rice balls.

Kamimura almost never shoots from above. Instead, he photographs these creatures at eye level or even from below, looking up. On land so contaminated by radiation that humans cannot survive, these animals face disease, starvation, and attacks from wild animals at every turn—tiny bodies bearing a weight that even humans could not endure. Whether reuniting with owners, living alone, finding new homes, or passing away, these furry friends deserve to leave behind proof that they lived.

Eleven years have passed. The evacuation order for Iitate Village has been lifted, yet only thirty percent of the original residents have returned. The number of cats and dogs in need of human help—those separated from their owners, those born after the disaster without anyone to call their own—has now dwindled to just twenty.
Eleven years is half a lifetime for a cat or a dog. Yet no matter how many lonely nights they have endured, they still trust humans, never forgetting to nuzzle close and seek an embrace.

Perhaps our society remains imperfect precisely because we have overlooked these lives that shine so brightly.
Please call out the names of your loved ones—human and animal alike—and cherish the time you spend together.
Your love will make them smile.

Yutaka Kamimura
A Japanese photographer. In 2014, he gained widespread attention for his photography exhibition "Call My Name" in Tokyo. In 2019, the series was exhibited in China for the first time at "A Healing Cat Exhibition" in Shenzhen, attracting over 20,000 visitors.
Since early 2012, he has traveled back and forth between Tokyo and Iitate Village, Fukushima, rescuing, photographing, and documenting the cats and dogs abandoned by their original owners in the disaster zone.