Yutaro Ueguri, owner of an organic bagel shop in Tokyo’s Edogawa ward, can’t recall when he last ate at McDonald’s.

Nor has he indulged in a boxed lunch from a convenience store for as long as he can remember — these prepackaged meals, he says, look to him less like food than just a “slab of additives.” He also shuns shampoo when washing his hair, dismissing it as detrimental to his health.

It is this avoidance of what he views as unhealthy — junk food, additives and chemicals — that is at the crux of Ueguri’s staunch opposition to vaccines. The 48-year-old is adamant that he and his family, including two young daughters, won’t get vaccinated against COVID-19.