In the rural Japanese village of Ichinono ... "We're probably outnumbered by puppets," Hisayo Yamazaki, an 88-year-old widow told AFP. She added that most families in Ichinono used to have ...

The youngest member of the village is two-year-old Kuranosuke, who came to the village in 2021 with his parents, Rie Kato, 33 ...

As the youngest resident by far, their son is adored by the other villagers, who bring him home-cooked meals and collectively ...

Fewer than 60 villagers live in Ichinono - where people have attempted to address dreaded feelings of loneliness by stitching ...

The village of Ichinono is emblematic of Japan's demographic woes as marriages and births continue to decline.

Ishiba has called Japan's low birth rate a "quiet ... The toddler is "our pride", village head Sawayama beams, while widow Yamazaki says he is "practically my great-grandchild -- such a sweet ...

With most of the population gone, residents of one village in Japan have come up with a novel plan to make ... “We’re ...

The small population of a village in Japan is now "outnumbered by puppets ... by puppets," Hisayo Yamazaki, an 88-year-old widow, told the Agence France-Presse news agency.

A small village in Japan is overflowing by puppets who are ... "We're probably outnumbered by puppets," Hisayo Yamazaki, an 88-year-old widow, told the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency.