Hundreds of them, naturally, I had to go and see it for myself.

This is no global village, tucked into a valley on the island of Shikoku Village, has developed a bit of a personality.

It's build, with over 300 of these dolls spread throughout the village.

They are everywhere, some more obvious than others, each one often representing a real person with a name age in a personal history, an incredibly nearly each and everyone is handmade by a single person.

In 2000 and two, when I, An Old Ski Me, returned to the village from living in Osaka, many of the people she knew were long gone, and in time she found herself populating the village with these Kakashi dolls, As these things often do, it started with a single dull to stand.

It's a scarecrow and protect a field, but more on Amazon in just a minute.

As with many places around the world, Japan's countryside, towns and villages are struggling to maintain any sense of appeal to the younger generation, who would all rather live in the big cities.

Nagato Village is a shining example of this with only 27 remaining residents, all of whom are close to or past retirement age.

And unsurprisingly, there are no Children.

The local elementary school, while up kept, has been abandoned for over 20 years Now we had the chance to enter the gymnasium.

Good morning, my team.

The scale of this entire thing really starts to hit you when you see the gymnasium and when he points out once again that all of this is made by a single person.

But it all becomes vastly more impressive in every way.

The detail that goes into each and every one of them is mind boggling.

In fact, gymnasium isn't even the Onley building in the town filled with these Kakashi dolls.

It's almost frightening in a way.

This'll This is amazing, do you know?

So I did a little more than running.

You got your your overnight What cop?

Baltimore All over dinner.

Can you imagine being a completely unsuspecting person just driving through here?

The worn down, nearly abandoned feel of Navarro gives the village creepy enough Feel as is way were offered the opportunity to visit I a knows house for an interview and take a look at her in home display.

But with the world in its current state, we felt it best to limit interaction in smaller spaces and politely declined the offer.

It was, honestly, one of the more painful declines that I've ever had to do, but I stand by it.

The locals are very aware of the looming fate of their village, and they're actually quite happy when people come out and share their story.

Nobody wants to be forgotten.

As interesting is, this place is it really serves as a reminder of Japan's dying and countryside lifestyle.

I wonder what the country is going to be like 10 2030 years from now.

The town is also quite small.

Just around this corner and down a bit is the start of the town.

And then just around this corner, up here is the end of town.

I took a bit of extra time to walk the streets and really get a feel.

For now, it's an inspired little village, and more than anything, this visit simply piqued my interest and made me want to know more.

I hope I could make it back some day.

I hope we okay.

I managed to reach a handles on via telephone, and she was an absolute pleasure to talk to.

We talked for probably good 10 15 minutes, and we got so wrapped up in the conversation that I completely forgot to ask her all the questions that I wanted to our Perhaps I just gave up because I was enjoying the conversation.

I thanked her for her work, and she said she was looking forward to seeing the documentary and was even kind enough to invite me back when the world returns to some sense of normalcy.

I e i e.

I.

I'm looking forward to that, and it's always nice to have something to look forward to.