Nagoro Scarecrow Village: Handmade Neighbours in Iya Valley

At Nagoro Scarecrow Village in Iya Valley, Tokushima, handmade, human-sized figures take part in everyday village scenes. Some work in fields; others gather for a conversation or wait at a bus stop. The setting is a mountain settlement on Shikoku, where the gestures of ordinary life have become the subject of a remarkable craft project. Miyoshi’s official visitor information · Tokushima’s description

The Japanese name, Kakashi no Sato (かかしの里), means a village of scarecrows. Look at how a figure sits, what it wears and what it appears to be doing. Those details are the reason to slow down here.

Research note: Sources were checked on October 12, 2026. We have not visited in person. Indoor access, current display arrangements and travel-date bus connections have not been confirmed.

It began with a figure in a field

In a 2022 interview published by Miyoshi City’s tourism portal, creator Tsukimi Ayano described returning to Nagoro from Osaka in 2002. When seeds in her garden failed to sprout, she wondered whether birds were eating them and made a scarecrow modelled on her father. Neighbours initially mistook the figure for him. Their reactions helped encourage more creations. The city’s interview with Ayano

The project grew into scenes around the settlement. Nishi-Awa’s tourism association describes figures recalling former residents and participating in familiar activities, including farming and waiting for transport. The interest lies in those small social details: clothing, posture and the arrangement of people in a place. Regional tourism account

A village register for handmade residents

Tokushima’s official tourism site describes a scarecrow village register recording names and personalities. Giving the figures individual identities extends the idea beyond their appearance: a group gathered beside a road becomes a set of characters with stories. Official description of the register

A second instalment of the city’s 2022 interview follows Ayano into the workshop and former school. It describes clothes and newspaper among the materials, people making figures together, and displays of school life and celebrations. The ordinary materials and carefully arranged gestures explain much of the project’s appeal. Workshop and school interview

Those interviews document what the writer saw at the time. Displays can change, and a particular classroom, workshop encounter or figure is not guaranteed on your visit.

The former school and planning a visit

Miyoshi’s English visitor page includes the former Nagoro elementary school in its description of the visit. It also directs car visitors to the former school grounds, approximately 300 metres upstream from the main village area. Official site and parking information

Planning point	Published information and its limits
Location	Higashi-Iya Sugo 191, Miyoshi, Tokushima (三好市東祖谷菅生191).
Admission	The city’s 2022 feature lists free admission. We did not confirm a newer fee notice.
Opening	That feature lists year-round visits. It does not establish current indoor opening hours.
School and workshop	Official descriptions include them; access to specific rooms or a meeting with the maker must be checked separately.

City feature · Official visitor page

Plan around the village scenes you can see on arrival, and follow signs or local guidance about entering buildings. If an indoor display is the main reason for your trip, confirm its arrangements with the Miyoshi tourism information centre before setting out.

Getting there: check the whole bus journey

Nagoro is deep in Iya Valley. JR Ōboke Station is a useful starting point for understanding the bus route, but reaching the village involves separate services.

Shikoku Kotsu revised its timetable on October 1, 2026. Its current route list separates the Nishi-Iya line, which passes Ōboke Station and ends at Kazurabashi Yumebutai (かずら橋夢舞台), from the Higashi-Iya line between Kazurabashi Yumebutai and Kubo (久保). For a journey from Ōboke, plan those legs first, then the Miyoshi municipal bus towards the Nagoro area. Current bus operator route list and timetables · Miyoshi municipal bus information for Higashi-Iya

The tourism page’s shorter Ōboke–Kubo–Nagoro summary is useful for geography, but do not treat it as confirmation of a direct bus or a working connection after the timetable revision. Check both directions, the operating date of each service, the actual stop and the waiting time at each change. We have not verified a complete travel-date itinerary or total fare.

The scarecrow bus-stop scene is also not a place to assume your bus will stop. Use the actual stop named in the current timetable. City interview’s distinction between the display and the bus stop

For driving, Awa Navi gives approximately two hours and ten minutes from Ikawa-Ikeda Interchange. Treat that as a planning estimate, and check road conditions for your date. Use the parking identified by the tourism association rather than leaving a vehicle beside a display. Tokushima access information · Official parking guidance

Photographs and the people who live here

The city’s interview feature encourages photographs while specifically asking visitors not to enter or damage the fields. Follow that guidance and any signs at the individual display. If residents would be identifiable in your photograph, ask before including them. The city’s visitor guidance

We have not confirmed rules for commercial photography, drones, tripods or indoor shoots. Ask about the intended use rather than assuming a visitor photograph and a commercial shoot have the same conditions. Viewing a figure does not give permission to move it or enter the surrounding property.

For another village where an interesting detail belongs to daily life, read about Harie’s kabata water spaces in Shiga. For a very different relationship between art, posture and place, see Yoro’s Site of Reversible Destiny. More researched places are collected in Curious Japan.

Original editorial illustration about handmade village figures. It is a conceptual graphic, not a photograph or a depiction of Nagoro’s actual figures or village layout.