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https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/8/15/in-japans-ageing-countryside-communities-are-facing-extinction>
"Nanmoku, Japan – Like all bakers, their day starts before dawn.
Hours later, as the mid-afternoon light streams through the windows of their
kitchen, Masayuki Kaneta, 85, and his son, Shigeuki, are still at work, rolling
out long strings of barley and brown sugar dough that will be chopped, baked
and bagged to produce one of their signature confections.
Representing the third and fourth generations, the Kaneta family can trace
their history in the village of Nanmoku back 140 years.
Once a thriving community in the mountainous interior of Japan’s main Honshu
island, about 100km (62 miles) west of Tokyo, the last few decades have seen
the community go through a rapid decline.
“There used to be about 40 shops within 150 metres (492 ft) of here,” Masayuki
told Al Jazeera with sadness. “Now, there are only two confectionary shops, a
restaurant and a taxi service.”
Sure enough, their front door onto what was once the bustling high street is
one of only a few draped with the traditional “noren” curtains that indicate a
business.
Along the street, many buildings sit disused and boarded up. Similarly, in the
sprawling village extending up the hillsides of this verdant valley, many
houses lie abandoned."
Via Frederick Wilson II.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
