It’s something I’ve mentioned many times on these pages, but away from the big cities and popular tourist spots, the rest of Japan really is another world altogether. Of course the overwhelmingly rural landscape plays its part, but invariably it’s the very obvious decline brought about by the country’s ageing population that provides the starkest visuals of just how different things really are.
Only a few hours north of Tokyo, and located rather appropriately at the end of a local train line, Shimonita is primarily an agricultural settlement, which in itself isn’t exactly an industry that attracts or retains younger residents. A factor that was immediately evident when walking around, as the few people we did see were almost all elderly. Something the population stats also confirm, as after peaking at 22,450 residents in 1950, that number was down to just over 7,000 in 2020, and as the biggest drops have all happened since the turn of the century, it’s a trend that’s only going to continue.
With all that in mind, the future looks bleak for not only Shimonita, but all the other places just like it, and yet for me at least, it’s this very aspect that makes them so fascinating. Wandering the quiet streets leaves so much to the imagination, with hints about the lives that have been lived there on almost every corner, and in each abandoned building or shuttered up shop front. Stories that in their own way still survive, at least as long as the buildings do anyway, but when they eventually disappear, there really won’t be much left to remember at all.
allrite says
The window contents of the Toshiba shop do seem to change with time. The shutters were up and there was only a rice cooker and a radio when I visited in 2015. I have a hypothesis that Shimonita is actually populated by spirits and comes alive at night, like in Spirited Away.
Lee says
That would perhaps explain the changing window display, and even more so the contents of those displays!
JapanSnapping says
Brilliant set, Lee. That Toshiba shop window – talk about frozen in time.
Lee says
Thanks a lot. Very happy with what I got. And yeah, that shop window is incredible. Something you keep looking at, and yet still can’t quite comprehend.
Coli says
Great set of pictures as always. Something about the second to last picture really seems to sum up the whole atmosphere. Excellent!
Lee says
Thank you very much. Such a great little place to explore and photograph. And yeah, I completely agree about that photo. She walked past at just the right time, and in just the right way.
Günter says
This is such an interesting set of photographs. I also want the tv in the display window!
Lee says
Thank you. It’s an incredibly interesting place. I didn’t work out if those items were for sale or not, but you could always ask!
Carl says
Great shots – so sad. Particularly love the bicycle shot. The colours are perfect.
Lee says
Thanks a lot. Tough to beat an old abandoned bicycle. And yeah, it really is. Must have been a very different place back in the day.
cdilla says
I am rereading The Roads To Sata at the moment – especially when the winter sun slants into the reading room (OK, bedroom), providing some much needed warmth during this cold and windy time. These photographs and your accompanying words mesh well with Alan Booth’s descriptions of some of the places he walked through. One significant difference is that he was never short of a few local children to shout and point at the gaijin, whereas you are blessed/cursed by their absence. I wonder how many of those kids, now in their 50s, are still in the same towns an villages. Maybe one or two have featured in you out-of-town collections.
Anyway, you have served us up another fascinating slice of Japan.
Lee says
Cheers. So much to see and photograph there. And yeah, that’s a good question. The population stats would suggest not that many…
Ah, The Roads to Sata, without a doubt my favourite book on/about Japan. So much to enjoy, and while a lot has changed since he wrote it, in many ways very little actually has. Might be time for me to reread it once again. Been a while.
Richard says
Great, albeit bittersweet photos. Thanks!
Lee says
Cheers. Yes, definitely a bittersweet element to them. Must be strange for the people who stay, although as the decline is so gradual, maybe it’s not quite as sad as one would imagine.