A 68-year-old man known only as “Mr. Hiroshi” has been discovered living completely alone inside the ruins of Nara Dreamland, the once-famous Japanese theme park that shut down in 2006 and has remained frozen in time ever since.

Local urban explorers stumbled upon him last week while filming inside the decaying park, finding a surprisingly comfortable camp hidden beneath the old roller-coaster station. Hiroshi has turned the abandoned ticket booths and maintenance tunnels into a small home complete with a futon, solar-powered lights, a hot plate, and shelves neatly lined with decades worth of canned coffee and instant noodles, all sourced from the park’s still-functional vending machines.

According to Hiroshi, he first entered Nara Dreamland in 1995 as a regular visitor and simply never left after falling in love with the atmosphere. When the park closed for good in 2006, security stopped patrolling and he decided to stay permanently.

“I paid for a lifetime pass back in the 80s,” he laughed during a rare interview with Japanese television. “Technically, I still belong here.”

For nearly two decades he has survived almost entirely on the vending machines that line the park’s overgrown walkways. Miraculously, many of the machines still work thanks to underground power lines that were never fully disconnected. Every few months he walks to a nearby convenience store to exchange scrap metal and empty cans for coins, then returns to restock his supply of hot meals, drinks, and snacks.

Over the years he has maintained the grounds in his own quiet way, trimming weeds around his favorite rides, repairing broken benches, and even hand-painting faded signs to keep the park from falling into complete ruin. Old photographs show him riding the children’s carousel alone at night, listening to music on a battered cassette player.

Despite the isolation, Hiroshi says he has never felt lonely. “This place had joy once. I’m just keeping it company until someone brings it back.”

Local authorities are now debating what to do. The land is privately owned and slated for redevelopment, but public sympathy has exploded online, with thousands signing petitions to let Hiroshi stay or relocate him to another abandoned park. A crowdfunding campaign to buy him a proper home has already raised over ¥42 million ($280,000) in just four days.

For now, Hiroshi continues his daily routine: morning coffee from the same 1980s vending machine, a slow walk past the rusted Ferris wheel, and evenings spent watching the sunset from the top of the dormant log flume.

“I’ve lived here longer than most people live in one house,” he said, smiling at the overgrown entrance gate. “Dreamland never abandoned me. I just returned the favor.”