In The Rural Village of Nagoro – A Slice of Japan’s Rural Life

Do you love rural atmosphere? And have you lived in such an atmosphere in your childhood? If you have, you’re sure to miss it when you grow up, especially if you’ve moved to some other place! And if you come to know that your sweet, innocent, relaxing rural village has no more remained sweet, innocent or relaxing, how would you feel? Certainly heartbroken, right? Seeing that the simple people and their simple way of life lost to times is definitely not bearable. You’ll feel an urge to go back in your childhood and experience all that innocence and simplicity again, as if you’ve never grown up!

Same is the case with the main character of our new game, In The Rural Village of Nagoro! During her childhood, she used to live in Nagoro, a small village in the iya Valley on the island of Shikoku, in Tokushima Prefecture, Japan. But as a young child, she moved away from her beloved home town to Osaka. When she becomes older, she comes back to Nagoro only to get disappointed to see that Nagoro has lost its old charm! It’s no longer the same place she loved so much!

The game of In The Rural Village of Nagoro brings to you all those sweet memories of our main character, how the valley was a prosperous place with only 300 inhabitants, but full of young people who lived a simple life and made their living through forest industry and dam construction. A pleasant place with a rural beauty and charm. The game also tells the story of how a village turned to a touristic spot just because a girl tried to overcome her sadness by crafting scarecrows!

Special Features

The game In The Rural Village of Nagoro has some very interesting features. First of all, its music is very relaxing, just capable enough to make you experience the calm and quiet of Nagoro.

Secondly, you’ll get a lot of educational info about Nagoro which you’ll love.

The third feature of the game is that a Japanese artist, Asami, has created an original song for the game.

And the game has an interact button!

What will Your System Need?

Your system will need to have Windows 7 or above and 300MB space free for the game.

Perhaps the beauty of the game In The Rural Village of Nagoro is its simplicity. You’ll not find the eye-popping clever graphics you’ll find in other games. On the contrary, you’ll only find hand-drawn pictures that are really enjoyable. Certainly containing the vibe of Japanese anime, these graphics in soft pastel colors are capable enough to make you fall in love with this game.

Just as there are no dazzling graphics, there are no quests, no items to collect, and no horrible monsters to fight with. In short, there is nothing much you have to do. You just have to play the role of the young girl (now a grown-up), who lived in this village in her childhood and walk down the road in the village and greet people she meets on the way. The walk has been deliberately made slow, so you can enjoy the atmosphere. In the end, everything fades to white, and the words “This place used to be full of young children.” fade into view.

Second Half

Yes, the game has a second half too. In this part, things suddenly change – you’re changed to a woman who crafts a doll of a little girl and places it on the chair in a classroom that was full of energetic children, just a few moments ago. In this part, you have to visit every single place you passed by – the difference this time is that there will be no grandmas with wrinkled, twinkling eyes, no businessmen in suits waiting for the bus at the shed and no mother waiting with your bento box for you.

Now there are only lifeless dolls scattered all through the village in every house, pitiably trying to simulate the cheerful yet simple life the village had in the past.

Another amazing thing about the game In The Rural Village of Nagoro, is that it’s based on a true story!

It’s a true experience of Ayano Tsukimi who felt extremely sad and nostalgic to find that her Nagoro village which was once so pleasant, was deserted as people moved to big cities and the old people left behind passed away one by one. To overcome her sadness, Ayano Tsukimi started to craft dolls (scarecrows) that represented her lovely neighbors. Initially it was an effort to ward off crows from the deserted village, but it made the village a popular tourist attraction in Japan.

While the game doesn’t have a lot of thrilling factors. But it certainly creates a urge in the player to visit the Nagoro village and there lies the success of Ayano Tsukimi! So, try this game and you’ll enjoy the rural life in Japan and feel like visiting it in person.