This Japanese village was on the verge of being deserted, so a resident filled it with life-size dolls

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Japan's population has been declining for 14 years straight, with its most recent year the steepest drop yet. While there's efforts to try and boost the birth rate and welcome new migrants, it's simply not enough with one in ten people aged over 80.

Transcript

00:00 [Music]

00:15 Where is everyone?

00:17 In this Japanese town, these life-sized dolls outnumber residents ten to one,

00:23 filling up spaces once occupied by real people, including this now empty school.

00:29 These are the last two children who were here when the primary school closed.

00:35 We dress these scarecrows in the children's own clothes.

00:40 Tsukimi Ayano originally created the dolls to be actual scarecrows,

00:44 but as the town's population shrank from a few hundred to a couple of dozen,

00:49 they found renewed purpose.

00:51 Nobody stopped by this village when there were no dolls.

00:54 Now that the number of dolls has increased, people from all over the country,

00:59 and even from abroad, come to see them.

01:01 Japan is the world's oldest society.

01:04 With services at risk, the Prime Minister's warning it's now or never to do something.

01:10 Right now, there's millions of empty homes across the country.

01:13 Ghost villages grow as more people move to the big cities seeking better opportunities.

01:20 It's fine for pensioners like us, but young people have to work and send their children to school.

01:25 It would be nice if someone moved here, but I think that's quite impossible.

01:29 But not every town is standing still.

01:33 More than 400 kilometres away is the town of Kamichi.

01:42 It's home to some 20,000 people and also faces a depopulation problem.

01:48 There are not many young people, but there are many elderly people, so the town lacks vitality.

01:55 So it's come up with a novel solution to attract new folk.

01:59 Why not make some vacant homes free and throw in a bunch of cash bonuses for good measure

02:05 to help with renovations, relocation and child costs?

02:09 For the property owners, they're getting rid of a near worthless asset that attracts fees and costs.

02:15 14 properties were selected for the zero yen home program.

02:19 Most have already been snapped up.

02:21 So this is one of the homes you've given away for free.

02:24 What made you pick this property to be part of the program?

02:28 The house was 92 years old and vacant, but as you can see, the exterior is in very good condition.

02:35 We received 16 applicants from within and outside of the prefecture,

02:39 including applicants from Australia and other countries.

02:44 For father of two, Yasuyuki Fuke, a free home was more than enough to make him move from the city to the country.

02:53 I was looking for an inexpensive property, but there were no properties where my child could walk to primary school

02:59 or no place for a car.

03:01 When I came to see this property, it met my requirements and I had no complaints, as it was zero yen.

03:07 His house is huge.

03:10 So big, in fact, he's got a couple of goats to help with the gardening.

03:15 After I moved in, I began to feel the joy of having a house of my own.

03:21 I felt as if I'd won the lottery.

03:24 Giving away free properties won't solve all of Japan's population problems,

03:28 but in this town, it's made a real difference.

03:31 It's seen its population increase for the first time since it began monitoring the problem 11 years ago.

03:38 We've received more phone calls and emails than we expected.

03:42 We're also receiving emails from overseas.

03:46 For towns seeking solutions, time is running out.

03:50 Japan's most recent population drop was the steepest yet.

03:55 I don't want to think too much about what will happen in the future.

03:58 I'm healthy now and I'd like people to visit while I'm well.

04:02 In a few decades, there will probably be no one left in this village.

04:06 When the time comes, I will make sure that the scarecrows are put away properly.

04:11 For some, it's already too late.

04:13 light.

04:13 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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