[imagesource: VICE News]

Japan has a knack for the mystical.

Outside of the big cities, nestled among the dragon-back mountains and folklore-filled forests are many a small town with abandoned houses and dusty streets.

But one small town with a dwindling and ageing population in Fukushima is doing the most to capture everyone’s imagination and bring in more people.

Iino, home to a small community of 1 900 people, is trying to re-establish itself with claims of UFO sightings and special alien treatment, with some stories dating as far back as the 1970s.

The local pyramid-shaped mountain, Mount Senganmori, has spawned many alien theories, including how some believe that the summit was artificially constructed by aliens.

Some have even gone so far as to believe that an alien airbase lies underneath the mountains.

One resident UFO-spotter and researcher, Tsugio Kinoshita (he’s there up top), told VICE that he saw his first flying saucer in 1972 at the age of 25.

Since then, the Japanese government has been supportive of Kinoshita and his peers, helping him set up the country’s first-ever lab aiming to observe UFOs in Iino:

Now a key researcher at Iino’s UFO lab, Kinoshita believes aliens tried to make contact with him to let him know they exist.

“‘We’re here, too, on the other side of the distant sky.’ I think they just wanted us to know that,” he said.

He does his best to collect all the stories about UFO sightings, without dismissing a soul, to keep track of the possibility of extraterrestrial life:

“I don’t dismiss people’s stories. First of all, I listen to what people have to say, and then I draw what can be drawn, and then I transcribe what can be transcribed, and then I make a handmade newspaper,” he said.

Iino’s UFO lab director Kanno agrees that documentation is key, saying that “the first and most important goal is to collect videos and photos” of the objects.

To add credibility, the laboratory also keeps stock of about 935 copies of declassified CIA reports.

We know that although US intelligence authorities have found no evidence of alien technology from their many UFO reports, they haven’t ruled anything out either.

Let’s meet the residents of Iino:

Having once been close to the threat of radiation poisoning after the meltdown of a nuclear power plant in 2011 (from which 18 000 people died), and struggling with the Japanese problem of an ageing population and a declining birthrate, Iino has flirted with becoming a ghost town.

But the alien-obsessed folk are breathing new life into the silent streets:

Statues of aliens stand proudly all across the town. Its mascot is a small white alien piloting a golden flying saucer that makes random appearances on closed storefronts, local souvenir shops, and the empty town plaza.

Unsurprisingly, one of Iino’s most prized dishes is ramen, served in a bowl made of stones rumored to attract extraterrestrial visitors.

Complete with a museum documenting alleged extraterrestrial life, called the UFO Fureaikan, the alien-watching hub is on its way to revival.

If anything, as Kanno said, it is very important to have dreams, because “it’s a big universe, so there are a lot of ways to look at something”.

[source:vice]