When our tour guide said we’d be going to the “scarecrow village” on the island of  Shikoku  in an area called Iya Valley, I really had no idea what to expect. 

Later I learned that travel writers call it one of the most mysterious and best kept secrets in Japan.  Lucky me, I got to go there.  

And it was fascinating.  So glad I did. 

Along a narrow country road, we saw figures, scarecrows, tucked into fields, lined up at the bus stop and gathered around homes.  Later we saw them in an abandoned school.

There were over 350 of these figures.   This is a big contrast to the 30 people who live in the sleepy little town. 

At one point the town, Nagoro, had four hundred people, but most have left to find work in the cities.  

Resident Tsunami Ayano was born in the town but moved away, returning about 15 years ago to help to care for her elderly father.  

After he died, she placed a scarecrow of her father’s likeness in a field outside her home…..and that started her on making more scarecrows based on local residents who had left the town or passed away.  

Each scarecrow is in the position where the living villager spent his or her time.  They are recorded in a the scarecrow registry. They all have a name, sex, age, personality and a life story that you can read about.  

It’s been described as “fun, strange, weird and creepy all in one straw like bundle” by one travel writer.  I agree. 

When the school was shut down in 2012, Ayano filled with school with scarecrows.  Other re-enactments of aspects of rural life are portrayed. 

Now it is a tourist attraction although it started as a way to memorialize lost residents.  

The village has no tourism facilities or policies, but there is a an annual scarecrow festival and  scarecrow making workshops are offered.  

While it was fun to photograph them in the school and fields, I really enjoyed capturing the faces and imaging the real people who imspired them.  

The village is remote and difficult to access.   It is known in Japan as Kakashi no Sato or Scarecrow Village. Approximately 3,000 people visit the village every year.