Photo 3.1. A shrinking village on the isolated northwestern coast of Sado Island.

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Photo 3.2. Many older people in regions such as Sado Island now live solitary and difficult lives with neither family nor neighbours nearby to rely on.

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Photo 4.1. The new Shinkansen station in the centre of Ueda City, Nagano Prefecture.

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Photo 4.2.– Closed and shuttered shops, with ‘to let’ signs

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Photo 4.3. pasted on the front (photo 4.2), and disused land with weeds covering the ground (photo 4.3) are located just a few metres from Ueda City’s new Shinkansen station; an increasingly familiar sight in non-metropolitan urban areas as communities age and shrink.

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Photo 4.4.– An abandoned house (photo 4.4) and an overgrown

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Photo 4.5. house (photo 4.5) in Hongu Town, Wakayama Prefecture.

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Photo 4.6. Vine-covered houses in Hong Town, Wakayama Prefecture.

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Photo 4.7. A collapsed school building in Hong Town, Wakayama Prefecture.

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