I traveled to the northeastern corner of Nara Prefecture in Japan, to a mountainous part of the city of Uda. It used to be the village of Murō (室生村), until it was absorbed into the city in 2006. Here in the section of Murō known historically as Sambommatsu ("three pine trees"), I walked through the communities of the village to see their current state. I got to glimpse of some of the area's history, learn about its creativity and its famous sons, and see up-close what life has been like here in a declining Japanese village for so many decades.

The population of Uda has fallen by a third in the last 30 years and the decline shows no signs of stopping. Young people and others move to the big cities, and nobody comes to replace them. There is no construction. Several of the houses and schools are abandoned and crumbling – and while the remaining families often live in large, nicely kept houses and tend impressive gardens, it seems only a matter of time before those too become dormant and begin to decay.

For the few left, life goes on, even cheerfully, here in Murō, but the writing is on the wall. Like so many similar areas across Japan, there is a sense that the future will only get bleaker here as Japan's population continues to fall generally, and as nearby cities like Ōsaka, Kyōto and Nara continue to draw people away from these centuries-old communities.

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