The Hidden Village of the Nagoro Scarecrows (名頃 かかしの里 )
Nestled in Iya-Valley, Tokushima. Lives a small village called Nagoro (also known as the Doll Village or Scarecrow Village). Thanks to Ayano Tsukimi, the artist behind the hundreds of realistic scarecrows. Although a very quiet village, the place did feel like it was alive with eyes everywhere.
As the population of the village continues to shrink, the artist resumes creating more and more life-sized dolls at her workshop. I got a chance to meet Ayano Tsukimi who was in the middle of working on a new doll, she is a very cheerful and wonderful person, doing her best to bring life back to the village she once remembered when she was young. Not only that, she is helping the village by attracting international tourism.
Some may think, cute! but some may think creepy. For me I thought it was very cute, especially the scarecrows dressed in kimono! I had a lovely time here and would definitely recommend visiting Nagoro. Again, it is a very rural part of Tokushima and if you don’t drive, the next best thing it to hire a taxi.
Overall…AMAZING EXPERIENCE!
—Tofu
The Flying Tofu 
I smiled reading the last paragraph as I was thinking while scrolling through the photos “Cute! Although, a little creepy…”
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Haha thank you. Yes, many people think it’s creepy because of the eeriness and it does feel like the dolls are looking at you if you stare too long. But cute and looks huggable 😊
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I want to visit here so much! Though I’m a bit worried at the taxi bill haha
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I’m sure you will love it!!! There is a taxi service that can give you a quote, they do tours around the area. kazurabashi taxi is the name of the company I used. ❤️
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Oh wow. How wonderful. There used to be a scarecrow display near my house in Kawagoe every September, but they stopped about three years ago. I was sad to see it go. Now though, I can see scarecrows at the Cosmos Festival in Yoshimi (Saitama) in October 🙂
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Cute and creepy at the same time
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I imagine it veers more toward creepy at night. Can you imagine not knowing anything about the village and stumbling in at night after you’ve been in a car accident or something and need help? Now that would be freaky!
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Haha OMG yess I hadn’t thought of night time! Yes that would be a very interesting experience 😂😂😂
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wow. that is a heck of a lot of scarecrows! I expect not a bird to be seen! However, I must admit, I think it is quite creepy!
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I found it rather creepy when I was there. Maybe because many of the villagers were at the community center so there was nobody on the streets.
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Wow. What a surprising post! With the word surprising I mean that we have also nearly similar! I do love this post and its photos. ありがとう！
Here is my post and it has a small video also:
Dancing scarecrows
すばらしい日を過してください。
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