It is known as Japan’s fastest-dying village. Nanmoku, perched on a mountain 75 miles northwest of Tokyo, is the most elderly community in the country, where the old people’s home is packed, the schools almost deserted and there are more centenarians than seven-year-olds.
Its problems are, in many ways, representative of Japan as a whole. For decades migration to the cities has robbed the village of young inhabitants, leaving behind the old and the very old. Efforts to reverse the trend failed, so the village government made the decision to throw money at the problem.
Young families willing to move to the village were offered subsidised accommodation, including a beautiful wooden farmer’s house for 25,000 yen (£135) a month. Free nursery care was made available,