Village of Scarecrows: This Japanese hamlet has been filled with dolls after its inhabitants migrated to cities leaving emptiness behind

Tsukimi Ayano made her first scarecrow many years ago to frighten off birds pecking at seeds in her garden. The life-sized straw doll resembled her father, so she made more. Today, the tiny village of Nagoro in southern Japan is teeming with Ayano's hand-sewn creations, frozen in time for a tableau that captures the motions of everyday life. (Image: Reuters)

Tsukimi Ayano arranges a scarecrow, which represents her father, in the mountain village of Nagoro on Shikoku Island in southern Japan. (Image: Reuters)

Nagoro, like many villages in Japan's countryside, has been hit hard by inhabitants flocking to cities for work and leaving mostly pensioners behind. Its greying community is a microcosm of Japan, whose population has been falling for a decade. A general view shows the mountain village of Nagoro on Shikoku Island in southern Japan. (Image: Reuters)

A vehicle drives past scarecrows sitting outside a closed down shop in the village of Nagoro on Shikoku Island in southern Japan. (Image: Reuters)

Tsukimi Ayano arranges a scarecrow in the mountain village of Nagoro on Shikoku Island in southern Japan. (Image: Reuters)

A woman pushes a wheelbarrow past scarecrows in the mountain village of Nagoro on Shikoku Island in southern Japan. (Image: Reuters)

Scarecrows sit in at the edge of a field in the mountain village of Nagoro on Shikoku Island in southern Japan. (Image: Reuters)

Tsukimi Ayano stands in a classroom with scarecrows at a closed down school in the village of Nagoro on Shikoku Island in southern Japan. (Image: Reuters)

Tsukimi Ayano carries a scarecrow to place it on the road leading into the mountain village of Nagoro on Shikoku Island in southern Japan. (Image: Reuters)

Tsukimi Ayano sows an ear onto a scarecrow in her house in the mountain village of Nagoro on Shikoku Island in southern Japan. (Image: Reuters)

A scarecrow sits on a tree in the mountain village of Nagoro on Shikoku Island in southern Japan. (Image: Reuters)

A scarecrow is arranged to look as if it is plowing a field in the village of Nagoro on Shikoku Island in southern Japan. (Image: Reuters)

Tsukimi Ayano arranges a scarecrow at a bus stop in the mountain village of Nagoro on Shikoku Island in southern Japan. (Image: Reuters)