The Daily Star's FREE newsletter is spectacular! Sign up today for the best stories straight to your inbox Sign up today! Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Invalid Email

A bloke who has given up on modern plumbing says that pooing outdoors is “giving back life”.

Photographer and conservationist Masana Izawa stopped using toilets in 1974, and instead relieves himself in the secluded areas outside his home in the Ibaraki Prefecture, north of Tokyo.

He says in all that time he has used a toilet only 14 times and says he has enjoyed at least 15,000 open-air bowel movements.

Izawa, 69, says he came to the realisation that no one was willing to take ownership of their faeces and committed to give in to the philosophy based on the “circularity of nature”.

(Image: Masana Izawa)

He says that industrialised civilisations extract resources from the earth but never give anything back.

According to Izawa, defecating is a responsibility that humans “need to be aware of”, and the act of pooping outdoors is a way of “giving back life”.

Izawa said his actions have yielded results, as only a few days after he covers one of his outdoor toilet holes with earth, its contents start “teeming with life”.

“If (you’re) an ant, it’s a fairy tale candy house,” he explained.

“There are criticisms of noguso (outdoor defecation), with some saying that it's unsanitary, dangerous, illegal etc.

“But I have never been told not to do it.”

(Image: Masana Izawa)

Pooing outdoors is illegal in Japan, punishable by a fine of ¥10,000 (about £70)

But in his 45 or so years of al fresco motions, he’s only been caught in the act once – by a homeless man in Tokyo.

If you think noguso is for you, Izawa has some basic advice.

He said: “Select an appropriate location so as not to contaminate the alpine zone and water source where the decomposition power is weak.”

He added: "Make sure to dig a hole and fill it.”