Sep 23, 2012 - 1 min read

The Scarecrows of Kaminada

From the friendly to the frightening

Community writer

This friendly fellow greets visitors to Kaminada which must have the highest scarecrow population in all of Ehime!

A rabbit scarecrow in Kaminada.

Another friendly Kaminada face greets drivers as the road narrows.

Kaminada's scariest scarecrow scowls and carries farm tools which look more like menacing weapons!

Other Kaminada scarecrows are friendly, like this TV celebrity and 2012 dragon.

Keeping a buttoned eye on the hydrangeas in Kaminada.

More scarecrows rest in the farmer's shack. Many are used to raise awareness of safe driving while others serve a more traditional purpose in the fields.

A Shirakawa scarecrow takes a break from her hard work to daydream as traffic passes by.

Meanwhile within the Matsuyama city limits, more sinister scarecrows scare more than just birds!

Plastic heads used by student hairdressers are recycled and used as scarecrows. Nets and plastic garbage bags on poles mimicking crows may serve an additional purpose, but the red paint on the dolls' necks does not.

The trend is evident in Masaki too, where the plastic heads can be found in loquat trees.

At harvest time, the scarecrows' work is done...

... but they will be back again next year.

Traditional, cute, and scary scarecrows can be found at Kaminada and other places in Ehime during the rice growing season. While the rural population is falling all the time, the population of scarecrows seems to increase. Coincidence?

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L. MacLean

By L. MacLean

Community writer

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Justin Velgus

Justin Velgus 9 years ago

Fun pictures! May be a little scary at night though!

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Tyra 'nell Pille-Lu

Tyra 'nell Pille-Lu 12 years ago

This is a very interesting subject to write about! The photos were neatly taken and indeed very good. They really showed the uniqueness in each scarecrow. I hate the red marks on the necks of those scarecrows on the rice field. They gave me the goosebumps.

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