A small village in central Japan facing depopulation has renovated an empty home into a share house in a bid to attract young women who want to experience life in the countryside.
The village of Shirakawa, Gifu Prefecture, hopes that through the experience, some visitors will end up staying permanently to boost village numbers. But with the maximum stay at the share house set at two years, it is unclear whether the initiative will succeed.
"The task lies in finding a more permanent place to go on to in two years," said one of the staffers involved in the project.