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Towering Sculptures of Monsters Made of Straw


Each year in rural parts of Japan, heaps and heaps of straw left behind from harvesting rice are put to artistic use in the creation of giant straw sculptures. The farming communities, most notably those in Kagawa Prefecture and Niigata Prefecture, hold a Straw Art Festival that invites visitors to playfully view and engage with the colossal assemblages.

Made in the likeness of towering beasts, both real and fictional, this year's festival proved to be a big hit. Visitors were met with anything from an open-mouthed shark veering its menacing jaw out of the ground to a giant wallaby allowing children to sit in its pouch. There were also additional structures replicating ships and tanks that visitors were invited to enter. Luckily, each of the sculptures are sturdily built like thatched cottages with wooden frames covered in the dried stalks of grain, allowing audiences to physically interact with them.

Top photo: hat*im*3


Kyo


Honzu World


hat*im*3


fujiko


fujiko


Honzu World


hat*im*3


Kyo


Kyo


Honzu World

via [Neatorama, Kotaku]

Pinar

Pinar Noorata is the Managing Editor at My Modern Met. She is a writer, editor, and content creator based in Brooklyn, NY. She earned her BA in Film and Media Studies from CUNY Hunter College and is an alumni of the Center for Arts Education’s Career Development Program in NYC. She has worked at major TV, film, and publishing companies as well as other independent media businesses. When she isn’t writing, editing, or creating videos herself, Pinar enjoys watching movies, reading, crafting, drawing, and volunteering at her local animal shelter.
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