A 74 years old resident of the Japanese mountain village of Nagoro, Tsukimi Ayano, saved the village from desolation by turning it into a tourist attraction with the help of her hobby of making dolls, writes Tengritravel.kz with reference to The Sun.

Almost all local residents left Nagoro in search of a better life. As a result, only about 30 people remained in the village, mostly pensioners. Over the past 20 years, not a single child has been born here.

The loneliness and abandonment of the village prompted the Japanese woman to action. She began making life-size dolls that resembled the village's former inhabitants. Dolls appeared on the streets, in stores and even in empty school classrooms.

Фото: the-sun.com

“Making dolls is my hobby. It appeared when there was a need to make stuffed animals to scare away birds in the fields. I didn’t think that one day my hobby would be so useful”, - says Tsukimi Ayano.

Now there are 350 dolls in the village. The new “residents” attracted the attention of tourists who wanted to tickle their nerves.

“It’s difficult to describe the feelings in words; it’s a very scary and peaceful picture at the same time. It makes you feel uneasy when you see all these dolls in places where people should be. It’s especially creepy at school”, - the tourists shared.