The rice is ripening nicely in the roadside paddies of shitamachi, and should soon be ready to harvest.
There are just as many crows in the backstreets of nether Asakusa as anywhere out in the countryside. Hence the need for this handsome scarecrow. Don't mess with this one, birds...
Maybe he's just unhappy because (as the inscription points out) he only has one leg and has to stand there through fair weather and foul. It's actually the first verse of a well-known ditty, Yamada no naka no ippon-ashi no kakashi...
山田の中の一本足のかかし 天気のよいのにみの笠着けて 朝から晩までただ立ちどおし 歩けないのか山田のかかし。
Hopefully it's sheltered enough here in the backstreets to survive the rain that swept through today.
Meanwhile in the heart of Ginza, his country cousin from Echigo is looking over the bundles of rice that have been harvested and are hanging out to dry.
Not that it was grown here. As usual, this is rice from the plains of Niigata, sent down to remind the busy folks downtown that autumn has already arrived out in the countryside.
I just love this chance to see the grain close-up, harvested by hand – using scythes – in the traditional way.
