This photo of Kakashi no Sato is courtesy of TripAdvisor

In Shikoku Island in a small village called Nagoro, Ayano Tsukimi, 67, spends her days by sewing dolls in real human sizes as a replacement for her neighbors who have migrated or died.

This photo of Kakashi no Sato is courtesy of TripAdvisor 

Ayano Takumi, who spent most of her life in Osaka, saw the population drop to almost 35 when she returned to the village where there were more than 300 people used to live. And She began making dolls in human size. 15 years have been passed and now there are more than 350 dolls in the village.

This photo of Kakashi no Sato is courtesy of TripAdvisor 

"When I make dolls of people who are already dead, I think about their alive and healthy times." Ayano said about the dolls she created in the short documentary named "The Valley of Dolls" by filmmaker Fritz Schumann. With the graduation of the last two students in 2012, the school of the village was closed and turned into Ayano's doll gallery. 

This photo of Kakashi no Sato is courtesy of TripAdvisor 

Thanks to dolls in various places in the village, Nagora has become an interesting spot for tourists. So Ayuno regularly takes cares of the dolls and repair them which are worn out from the sun and rain. 

Source: National Geographic, BBC Türkiye