Dead Man's Plot

There are problems with the countryside in Japan; it's dying.  It's the same old problem that happened in Europe in the early 19th century with the industrial revolution.  Young people leave the farm and go to the cities to make money.  The ones that are left are the old.

We covered the practice of putting the teardrop on the rear of cars driven by 70 year olds and older, but this shot also includes a Dead Man's Plot to the left of it.

Here the story is one repeated thousands of times all over the rural areas of Japan.

The residents of a property have died, and the young have no use for their inheritance as it's worthless as noboby is around to buy it.  They also might not declare themselves to be the inheritors and have to face property taxes.  So the house falls into disrepair and eventually becomes a health hazard.  The local authorities pull it down and it stays an empty space, with no value; a dead man's plot, as it's known. It's a sad situation but one that is also being repeated in some US cities like Detroit, I believe.