Fabricating life in the Japanese village of Ichinono – in pictures

Ichinono is one of the ‘puppet villages’ in Japan where mannequins are used to ease feelings of loneliness due to depopulation

Photograph: Philip Fong/AFP/Getty Images

In Japan, more than 20,000 communities have a majority of residents aged 65 and above. The demographic crisis can be seen and felt in Ichinono

Photograph: Philip Fong/AFP/Getty Images

In Ichinono, some puppets ride swings while others push firewood carts, smiling eerily at visitors

Photograph: Philip Fong/AFP/Getty Images

Hisayo Yamazaki standing next to the puppets outside her house in Ichinono

Photograph: Philip Fong/AFP/Getty Images

Hisayo Yamazaki walking outside her house

Photograph: Philip Fong/AFP/Getty Images

Kuranosuke Kato is the only child in Ichinono

Photograph: Philip Fong/AFP/Getty Images

Rie Kato playing with her son Kuranosuke in their house

Photograph: Philip Fong/AFP/Getty Images

Silence pervades in Ichinono

Photograph: Philip Fong/AFP/Getty Images

‘We’re probably outnumbered by puppets,’ Hisayo Yamazaki, an 88-year-old widow, told AFP

Photograph: Philip Fong/AFP/Getty Images