NAGORO, Japan (Reuters) - Tsukimi Ayano made her first scarecrow 13 years ago to frighten off birds pecking at seeds in her garden. The life-sized straw doll resembled her father, so she made more.

Art imitates ... life. Dotting a remote village in western Japan, a population of life-sized dolls outnumber actual humans 10 to one, a result of depopulation that has affected areas throughout the ...

Adopting an innovative way to battle low population, a Japanese village has been placing life-sized dolls to give the place the feel of a human-filled bustling society. In the hamlet of Ichinono, ...

In the remote Japanese village of Ichinono, a fascinating yet bittersweet phenomenon unfolds as life-sized puppets fill the spaces once occupied by departed residents. Located in a mountainous region, ...

Two fishing villages in Hokkaido are vying to host the final storage facility for half a century of Japanese nuclear waste, splitting communities between those seeking investment to stop the towns ...

NPR’s Anthony Kuhn visited Japan’s most aged village, where most residents are over age 65. Why rural villages in Japan are shrinking Villages across Japan’s countryside are facing extinction as the ...