Why do 35 people and 150 stuffed animals live in a Japanese village?
Japanese Ttsakimi Ayano made the first stuffed animal with her own hands 13 years ago. And she liked this job. Today, in her native village of Nagoro, which is located on the island of Shikoku, there are already one and a half hundred rag dolls. Each of the figurines resembles one of Ayano's former neighbors: some of these people died, some went to work in the city. In the once populous Nagoro, only 35 retirees remain - and the dolls help the old-timers feel less lonely.
This is a sore point for all of Japan: the population is aging, its numbers are declining year by year, and young people are leaving the villages for life in megacities.
(Total 18 photos)
Photo: Thomas Peter / Reuters
1. At first, Ttsakimi Ayano made stuffed animals with a purely utilitarian purpose - to keep the birds away from her garden. But then she liked the very process of creating rag characters, inventing the details of their appearance. Basically, the Japanese woman was inspired by people she once knew.
2. Ayano makes another scarecrow at her home in Nagoro.
3. There are no youth or children in the village for a long time, but thanks to the dolls, school classes are not empty again.
4. Stuffed animals created by Tzakimi can be found everywhere in the village.
5. Not a very funny sight, but for some, perhaps even frightening. But the people of Nagoro like it.
6. Scarecrows perform their "direct duties" - protect the field from crows.
7. Elderly residents of Nagoro like dolls that resemble their former acquaintances.
8. Dolls sewn by Ttsakimi are waiting at the bus stop for a bus that will never come.
9. Ayano is one of the youngest inhabitants of the village, she is 65 years old.
10. Effigies in Nagoro can be found in the most unexpected places.
11. This doll reminds Tzakimi of her father.
12. Tzakimi makes dolls from wood, fabric and newspapers.
13. Sometimes a Japanese woman receives orders from her neighbors: some ask her to make a doll that looks like children who have left for the city, others ask her to make older relatives who have died.
14. Ayano periodically changes the location of his friends, because rag dolls are defenseless against bad weather.
15. Little by little, Nagoro is gaining popularity and is starting to attract tourists.
16. Having heard about the “village of scarecrows”, people stop by to stare and take pictures with stuffed animals.
17. The figurines created by Ttsakimi are very realistic: from afar it costs nothing to mistake them for people.
18. Ayano is always happy to show her work to guests. Unless, of course, their intrusion distracts her from watching her favorite TV series.
Keywords: Village | Dolls | Pensioners | Scarecrow | Japan