"A House Alone" (ABC TV/TV Asahi, Sundays 7:54 PM) is a variety show that uses satellite photos to find a remote house. On November 16th, they will be broadcasting a "handmade village" that remains on the site of an abandoned village in Niigata Prefecture.
The guests are actor Maki Kubota and former badminton player and talent Kimiko Jinnai.
The search team found a single house on well-maintained farmland on satellite images. They headed to the nearest village and began making inquiries. A man working on road construction told them, "There used to be a village of about 50 houses, but no one lives there now." A woman whose relative had married into the area where the village used to be told them, "I heard that after the village was abandoned, they built a hut and that they gather there several times a year."
There is no direct road from the village to the house they are aiming for, and they can only reach it by going around the mountain. The search team decides to take the national highway and head to the house from the other side of the mountain. The mountain road is paved, but it is overgrown with weeds and there is no sign of anyone. As they are driving along the quiet mountain road, they unexpectedly come across an oncoming vehicle! When they ask the man driving to look at satellite photos, he tells them that they are in a place called "Handmade Village." When they arrive at "Handmade Village" with the man's guidance, there are several buildings but it appears that no one is there.
According to the man, the residents of the village were collectively relocated to an apartment complex in a village at the foot of the mountain. The search team heads to the village where the apartment complex is located to get information about the owner of the "Handmade Village." Why did the residents collectively relocate? What is the "Handmade Village" that remains in the place where the village used to be?
To solve the mystery, the search team meets with former residents of the village.... The preview video for the program shows the "handmade village" buildings made from recycled materials such as telegraph poles, and the former residents gathering in the buildings to socialize over a meal of imoni (simmered sweet potatoes).
