Iya Valley Scarecrow Village — Life-Size Doll Population

Nagoro (名頃) is a depopulated mountain hamlet in the Iya Valley where life-size scarecrows (案山子, kakashi) outnumber human residents 10-to-1. Artist Ayano Tsukimi has created over 350 dolls to replace the village's dwindling population, positioning them throughout the hamlet engaged in daily activities — waiting at the bus stop, working in fields, sitting on porches, attending school. The effect is eerie and poignant, a tableau of rural Japan's demographic collapse.

The village became internationally known through the documentary 'Valley of Dolls' and now attracts curious visitors to this remote corner of Shikoku.