While the population of the small village of Nagoro in south-western Japan has been in decline for decades now, an army of scarecrows has popped up and outgrown the population of those still left behind. Sitting in the fields, at the bus stops, in empty stores, and even beside living people as they work in their barns, scarecrows have taken over the shrinking village, frozen in time for a tableau that captures the motions of everyday life. "When I was 20, there was around 150 people here. Now there's around 30 or so. It's maybe a fifth," said Mitsuhiro Uwagori, 84, as he cut firewood. The population growth in scarecrows has been the work of one woman: Tsukimi Ayano. Ayano has been making the scarecrows by hand ever since she moved back to the village to help care for her mother. She made the first life-sized doll to resemble her father 13 years ago. She then made more, and couldn't stop. "This here is my father. This is him sitting out here between work just taking a rest," she... ( More) | 
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