Long-popular doll Licca-chan has been a perennial favorite among tourists, drawing crowds of young fans, helping support the reconstruction of Fukushima Prefecture from the 2011 nuclear and earthquake-tsunami calamity.

With the visage of an 11-year-old schoolgirl, the dress-up doll first debuted in 1967 and is often touted as Japan's version of the Barbie doll. She is also the star of a theme park opened in 1993 in rural Ono by the doll's maker, Tomy Co.

During the Golden Week holidays earlier this month, Licca-chan Castle was packed with fans and their families.