Rebecca Manzi Ichinono is struggling with the birth crisis and has found an unusual solution: covering the village with life-size dolls created with recycled materials, old clothes and fabrics that simulate the presence of children, young people and adults engaged in daily activities
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Ichinono in Japan is a rural village with an increasing problem-it’s experiencing declining birth and fewer children. Gradually over the last few decades, districts such as Ichinono all over rural Japan have been suffering population decline. Of its roughly sixty residents, most are over 65; with no new births, the streets were quiet and empty.
Kuranosuke is the first child born in Ichinono after 20 years, and he is also the latest addition to Ichinono. His birth became an occasion to celebrate for the residents. His father, Toshiki, and mother, Rie, left Osaka for a more peaceful life in Ichinono in the year 2021, but he still does not have any playmates at two years.
As a counterbalance to that sense of isolation and desolation, the residents have found a very unusual way to bring life back into the village of Ichinono: people fill the streets with life-sized dolls. They fashion out of recycled materials, old clothes, and fabrics figures of children, adults, and elders, in the same way as everybody else, engaged in everyday activities.
29.3% of japanese citizens are over 65
A walk through the village shows dolls swaying on playgrounds, pushing carts or leaning against house walls, reminding one of a life that once bustled here. The most prolific creator is 88-year-old Hisayo Yamazaki, who made many of the figures. To outsiders, the presence might be a little unsettling, but to villagers, the dolls provide silent, familiar companionship.
The case of Ichinono reflects a greater demographic crisis that takes place across the country. Japan has one of the oldest populations globally, with 29.3% of its citizens above 65 years old, coupled with one of the lowest birth rates in the world. It’s a trend which threatens the survival of many rural communities, most of which face extinction unless ways are found to attract young couples and encourage higher birth rates.
The government has introduced economic incentives, encouraging childbearing couples to resettle in the countryside, but so far, the effort has achieved limited success. The struggle of Ichinono and villages like it is symbolic of a bigger question: how to keep traditions and community life alive in an graying nation.
In Ichinono, they have found a solution, though it may bring a smile or warm the heart, is not without its bittersweet impression. How can dolls, though charming and entertaining, truly make up for the absence of children running and playing in the streets?
