In Pictures: Japan's Nagoro village where life-sized dolls outnumber humans 10 to one

Deep in the mountains of western Japan, the tiny village of Nagoro appears busy, but there is not a living soul to be seen. The street is dotted with life-sized dolls that outnumber humans 10 to one, the product of a one-woman bid to counter the emptiness and loneliness felt in Nagoro which, like many Japanese villages, has been decimated by depopulation.

Updated

Published

April 17, 2019 at 2:55 PM

Life-sized dolls sit in the tiny village of Nagoro in western Japan, on March 16, 2019. PHOTO: AFP

Nagoro resident Tsukimi Ayano posing with life-sized dolls at an elementary school that closed seven years ago, as there was no one left to teach. PHOTO: AFP

Madam Tsukimi Ayano, 69, sewing the head of a life-sized doll at her house in Nagoro. PHOTO: AFP

The tiny village of Nagoro in western Japan in a photo taken on March 16, 2019. PHOTO: AFP

A life-sized doll on display at a house beside a road in Nagoro. PHOTO: AFP

Life-sized dolls depicting a farming couple. PHOTO: AFP

Madam Tsukimi Ayano walking in front of an abandoned grocery shop decorated with life-sized dolls. PHOTO: AFP

Madam Tsukimi Ayano (bottom right) inspects one of her dolls displayed at an elementary school that closed seven years ago. PHOTO: AFP

Life-sized dolls depicting schoolchildren at the elementary school that was closed seven years ago, as there was no one left to teach. PHOTO: AFP

Madam Tsukimi Ayano checking on her dolls displayed outside her workshop in Nagoro. PHOTO: AFP

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