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One day in the marginal village, I met many humanlike Scarecrows. And I started taking self-portraits with them.
After that, I directly talked to the only one scarecrow artisan in “Okuharima Scarecrow Village (Himeji, Hyogo pre, Japan)” and became his disciple. I asked him how to make scarecrows and I created a scarecrow that looks just like me.
I named this scarecrow “Chinatsu” another way to read Chinese characters of my name “Chika(千夏)”.
I’m the only Scarecrow photographer & creator in the world now. And as a Goodwill Ambassador for “Okuharima Scarecrow Village”, I’m doing daily efforts with Chinatsu.
In this series, we went to an amusement park near Himeji Castle.
More info: chika-usui.net | furusato-kakashi.net
Image credits: chika-usui.net
I found myself right next to her.
The girl with bobbed hair and “monpe,” a female loose trousers, talks to me softly.
“I’m Chinatsu. I know everything about you.”
She looks a little bit creepy, but she has a soft look with herd droopy eyes
“Let’s go to our fun world together. Just you and me.”
Looks like I had brought a friend of mine from the village of scarecrows.
This is a travel story of me and Chinatsu.
Image credits: chika-usui.net
Image credits: chika-usui.net
Image credits: chika-usui.net
Image credits: chika-usui.net
Image credits: chika-usui.net
Image credits: chika-usui.net
Image credits: chika-usui.net
Image credits: chika-usui.net
Image credits: chika-usui.net
Image credits: chika-usui.net
Image credits: chika-usui.net
Image credits: chika-usui.net
This series with Chinatsu is the second part of the piece titled “Watashi, Kakashi, Okashi (The Beautiful World of Me and Scarecrows).”
As I went to this village frequently for my photography projects, I started to wonder, “What if this scarecrow were really in my everyday life?” Then I started to take photos of scarecrows.
Chinatsu came to my home in spring 2017.
I directly talked to the only one scarecrow artisan in the village and asked him how to make scarecrows.
That was much harder than I had expected; I needed heavy physical work to make its framework, and very detailed work was required to create its face.
Throughout such twists and turns, my scarecrow was built up little by little on my day off.
I only had brothers in my family, so since I was small, I wanted a little sister like twins. I usually call this beloved sister “China-chan.”
Image credits: chika-usui.net
In fact, The story behind the scarecrows is depopulation problems and birth rates and an aging population in Japan.
Currently, Japan is facing those problems. And the scarecrows symbolize those problems.
The population of “Okuharima Scarecrow Village” is only 9 now. And the average age of the villagers is over 80.
The scarecrows are made and set up to attract many people to the village. (There are more than 130 scarecrows in the village now.)
I’m working on creating photos that will make the viewers happy and happy. It is true that this is a serious problem for Japan, but I would be glad if I could create an opportunity to attract as many people as possible through my photos.
China-chan and I out of the village to attract many people to the village.
Please look forward to this our continuing travel story.
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