Wishing for something completely different, we located Hue Abandoned Water Park. It sounded interesting on-line but wasn’t quite the secret it was made out to be. Once a bustling aquatic playground, nestled amidst the pine hills of Hue, this water park spans an area of 50 hectares.
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'Please find vegetable juice to go into your wife' - Message on AirBnB from a kind host. Takamatsu.
We left the mainland of Japan via an almighty bridge to Shikoku Island - one of the five main islands of Japan. We were staying at the most northern point in Takamatsu, in a large traditional Japanese house. It seemed huge after the shoeboxes we have had. We even had our own Ikebana Room for flower arranging. This was really homely.
For me, the initial reason to come Shikoku Island lies in a place deep in the Tokushima's Iya Valley called Nagoro. A village inhabited by more scarecrows than humans. A complete indulgence of my doll obsession.
Hiring a car and driving in Japan is very easy as long as you have sat nav and money to pay the extortionate road tolls. The Iya Valley is quite an inaccessible place, so we hired a car to wind our way over Mount Tsurugi, the second highest mountain in Western Japan.
We decided to follow Google maps and take the most direct route on a free road, perhaps, in hindsight not the wisest decision. It was a hell of a journey.
The mountains are huge and very steep. The mountain roads become lanes that snake up and up and up. It was hard work.
So at 2000 meters, ears popping, streamwater running over the roads, vision impeded by sun and a sheer drop immediately on one side, it did cross our minds that perhaps this wasn’t the sanest idea. There was no turning back, infact there was no turning… we had to pull over for the odd lumberjack lorry to squeeze past, but other that we were on our own. I wanted a wow factor and this really was a WOW. The mountains are glorious, stunning and wondrous. I love mountains, but these, still shiny, in their autumn glory were a really special sight.
We passed homes that are derelict, some collapsing over the mountain. The random villages were only partially inhabited.
Some three hours later, we saw some farmers harvesting the crops and a street dotted with human-like figures.
We had arrived.
Outnumbering people ten to one, these life-size dolls are the work of one woman. Who, in a bid to fill the emptiness and loneliness felt in Nagoro, a village crippled by depopulation, has been creating a community of stuffed companions.
I felt privileged to be able to have the opportunity to photograph these adorable characters. It makes me smile when it’s difficult to see who is human and who isn’t. The gentleman on the far left was very welcoming and allowed us access to most parts of the village.
These are the creations by Tsukimi Ayano, who once lived in Nagoro when it had a little more vibrance. She moved back 17 years ago and decided to make the scarecrows in memory of the town's former residents, over 270 of them.
Inside the Community Hall, there appears to be a meeting on.
The sheer remoteness of this place means visitors are infrequent if not rare. The town is inhabited by a mere 27 people, most amenities have closed down and the youngest person is 55 years old.
The school closed seven years ago as there was no one left to teach.
But now you are greeted by a whole community of scarecrows going about their business.
There’s even a meeting going on in the school office.
The Nagoro that Ms Ayano remembers was once a well-to-do place with some 300 residents and laborers supported by the forestry industry and dam construction work.
Its virtually empty now. Most of the amenities have closed down, including the grocery store and health centre. Its 200km to the nearest hospital. Ms Ayano hopes her scarecrows will inject a new life into the depopulated town.
Nagoro’s plight is replicated across Japan, as the world’s third-largest economy battles a declining rural population, low birth rate and high life expectancy. The country is on the verge of becoming the first “ultra-aged” country in the world, meaning that 28 percent of people are aged 65 or above.
As Japan’s population ages, towns all over the country and especially in remote rural areas are quickly disappearing, or at least the people that inhabit them are. Abandoned villages are becoming a common sight.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has pledged to revive regions outside Tokyo by pumping in tens of billions of yen, but this is not enough to stop young people from leaving their hometowns to work in Tokyo.
We went home a more sensible route, but just as high. The view down on the autumn leaves, crystal clear rivers and canyons is something we will both remember. As well as the beautiful creations by Ms Ayano.