HIDDEN in a remote area of Japan is a village where the number of life-sized dolls outweigh the human population.

The mysterious Nagoro village in the Iya Valley is little-known and untouched. It's situated on Shikoku Island, the smallest of Japan's four main islands.

Nagoro is home to just 51 people, and over 150 dolls that resemble former residents. Each doll represents a person who has moved away or died.

The dolls are created by local woman Mizuki Ayona using straw, rags and old clothes, and are lined up around the town. One doll is placed in the abandoned school, after its last student died.

Meanwhile, a queue of dolls wait at a bus stop, while others sit on gates and climb on fences. There are also 'farmer' dolls placed next to straw bundles and 'elderly people' who sit and watch the world go by.

Toursgallery.com offers trips to the village in its "Untouched Japan in Autumn" package - the next tour is scheduled for November 6.

Director Ken Osetroff says the village is quite an unusual sight, and its population is rapidly declining.

"It's one of those places that's very difficult to get to, and we're predicting in the next four years it will be abandoned, as everyone's moving away or dying," Mr Osetroff said. "You can't find it on a map."

"One lady makes the dolls; they don't have much to do in the town.

"These somewhat realistic figures can be seen in fields, houses, schools and other places where the original people lived and worked."



