The village of Shimizu in Niigata Prefecture has a long history, but in a few decades it may be gone. Located 600 meters above sea level at the foot of Mount Makihata on a pass between parts of northwestern Honshu along the Sea of Japan and the Kanto region on the Pacific side, Shimizu hosted a military checkpoint in the feudal Edo Period (1603-1867), though its several hundred residents have traditionally relied on timber, coal and silk for their livelihoods.