The ultimate thrill-seeker

Toshifumi Fujimoto likes to take his vacations in war zones, said Agence France-Presse. The Japanese trucker is a “war tourist”—he was in Yemen last year when violent demonstrations raged outside the U.S. Embassy, and traveled to Cairo during the Arab Spring uprising. For his latest trip, he decided to visit the war-torn Syrian city of Aleppo. “It’s very exciting, and the adrenaline rush is like no other,” says Fujimoto, who’s been hanging out with rebel fighters on the front line. Even though Aleppo has seen some of the most vicious fighting of the Syrian war, he refuses to wear a helmet or flak jacket. “I’m not a target for snipers because I’m a tourist, not like you journalists. Besides, I’m not afraid that they might kill me. I’m a combination of samurai and kamikaze.” These extreme vacations offer an escape from the boring, lonely life the divorced Fujimoto leads back home in Japan. “I have no family, no friends, no girlfriend.” He does have three daughters, whom he hasn’t seen in five years, “not even on Facebook or the Internet. Nothing. That saddens me deeply.” Before setting off for Syria, Fujimoto bought a life insurance policy. “I pray every day that, if something happens to me, my girls might collect the insurance money and be able to live comfortably.”

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