The kakashi (scarecrow) memorials of Ayano Tsukimi

July 2, 2018 1:38 PM

On Shikoku, the smallest and least visited of Japan’s four main islands, one woman has had a mind-spinning response to a common crisis (BBC). Ayano Tsukimi moved back from Osaka to her rural hometown of Nagoro or Nagoru (Wikipedia) in Iya Valley, where the population is decreasing. It's a a rugged place of thatch-roofed farmhouses, barley fields, vine bridges (Atlas Obsura) and Anayo's scarecrows, made in memory of former residents and neighbors (Reuters Wider Image), also known as Nagoro Dolls Village (Google streetview), thanks to Anayo's creations.

Via an interview with NPR

Making them just brings her joy.

"Every morning, I just greet them," says Ayano. "I say 'good morning' or 'have a nice day!' I never get a response, but that doesn't make a difference. I go around talking to them anyway."

NPR's coverage also notes that the regional government sponsors a Scarecrow Festival for tourists each October.

posted by filthy light thief (9 comments total)

Also from NPR: the village of Nagoro used to have 300 residents. As of 2016, it had 30, plus 400 or more scarecrows, mostly made by Anayo, though not all are her creations.

One classroom has just two child figures seated at the desks. They represent the last two students who were there before the school shut down for good four years ago.

"These two little scarecrows, the children made those themselves during their home economics class," she says. "And then they put the clothes they wore back then on the figures before they left the school."

More photos and sad details about the region's population decline from the Daily Mail.
posted by filthy light thief at 1:44 PM on July 2, 2018

I guess that goes to show that something that can bring a person joy can be a totally creepy thing to another.
posted by Metro Gnome at 2:15 PM on July 2, 2018 [1 favorite]

Alex Kerr wrote a wonderful book called Lost Japan, a big hit in Japan in 1993, and a few years later translated into English. He begins the book with his residency in this same valley, the remote Iya Valley. By the time Lost Japan was published, most of rural Japan had suffered a fate like that detailed in the article, the rivers and streams mostly encased in concrete.
posted by kozad at 2:22 PM on July 2, 2018 [2 favorites]

Previously
posted by Secret Sparrow at 2:23 PM on July 2, 2018 [1 favorite]

I just going to toss this out here: there actually were 300 people in the town, until Ayano Tsukimi started making the scarecrows...
posted by happyroach at 3:23 PM on July 2, 2018 [6 favorites]

It’s the new Kiyoshi Kurosawa film....
posted by GenjiandProust at 3:39 PM on July 2, 2018

OMG - I literally was there a month ago and saw the scarecrows!

THEY ARE CREEPY AS FUCK.

And they are strategically placed where you end up doing double take on perhaps some of the more treacherous roads because they appear out of nowhere and like you are about to hit them with a car. It's also pretty much a ghost town.

In summary: nope nope nope nope nope.
posted by floweredfish at 6:46 PM on July 2, 2018 [5 favorites]

You can drive through the village on Google Maps, it's pretty weird. Japan seems very pretty though.
posted by Damienmce at 8:46 AM on July 3, 2018

These are dolls, not scarecrows.
For a more delightful rendition of life in rural yet disappearing Japan, check out "Manabeshima Island Japan" by Florent Chavouet.
You can also tour this island on google map.
posted by Mesaverdian at 6:20 PM on July 3, 2018 [1 favorite]