Inside Japan’s oldest village | The Japan Times

NANMOKU, GUNMA PREF. – The roadside stores and chain eating places regularly give option to lush hills and mountains as I drive west towards Japan’s oldest municipality: the village of Nanmoku.

The group of 1,550 or so stretches alongside a deep valley carved by its namesake river. Conventional picket homes cling onto the steep mountainsides, and dense forests are interspersed with terraced fields supported by stone partitions. Just a few mom-and-pop shops are open on this weekday morning because the automobile navigates the undulating nation lane. Many residences seem deserted — apart from the chirping of birds and the faint roar of the river, the streets are empty.

This rustic village round 110 kilometers northwest of Tokyo shot to nationwide fame in 2014 when then-government adviser Hiroya Masuda launched his so-called Masuda Report.