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STORY: These 15-year-olds are the only students left at their school in the remote Japanese village of Ten-ei.

They'll also be the last ever.

Aoi Hoshi and Eita Sato are preparing to graduate.

When they do, the 76-year-old Yumoto Junior High School will close its doors for good.

No new students have enrolled.

[Eita Sato, Student]

'I thought that my big sister, me and my little brother would all go to the same school. So, it was a big shock that we won't be able to.'

Empty classrooms like this are an increasingly common sight across Japan.

As the country’s population ages, and the birthrate plunges faster than expected,

school closures have picked up pace.

According to government data - about 450 schools close every year.

Between 2002 and 2020, nearly 9,000 shut their doors forever,

School Principal Mikio Watanabe is showing us graduation photos from over the years

that hang near the entrance of the school.

[Mikio Watanabe, Principal / Yumoto Junior High School]

'This here is from the period when the school had the most pupils, there were about 160 of them.'

The number of students visibly drops from around the year 2000.

There is no picture from 2022.

[Mikio Watanabe, Principal / Yumoto Junior High School]

'Last year, this school didn't have any graduating students. This year's graduates are the two final ones.'

Falling births have become an issue across Asia, with the costs of raising children dampening birthrates in neighbouring South Korea and China.

But Japan's situation is especially critical.

Births tumbled below 800,000 in 2022,

a new record low, according to government estimates and eight years earlier than expected.

In Ten-ei, only around 10% of the population is now under 18.

Local depopulation picked up speed after the 2011 Fukushima disaster less than 62 miles away.

Falling birth rates and Japan's ageing population have only added to the issue.

Sato's mother Masumi , a Yumoto graduate herself says the school’s closure will be a real blow for the area.

[Masumi Sato, Eita Sato's mother]

'When I think about this area, the thing that worries me is that people might not consider it as a place to relocate and start a family if there is no junior high school.'

However, on graduation day, spirits are high.

For Hoshi and Sato, it’s a happy occasion.

But the imminent closure of Yumoto has left the village - and the students themselves - in an uncertain position.

Hoshi dreams of becoming a nursery school teacher.

Being able to stay here and do it is looking increasingly unlikely.

[Aoi Hoshi, Student]

'I don't know if there will be any children left in the village by the time I’m a nursery school teacher, but if there are, I want to come back and do it here.'