Scarecrow - Scarecrow

Japanese: 案山子 - かかし

A device or equipment used to scare away birds and animals that damage crops. Some use sound or light, some use smells, and some use dolls. Devices that use sound or light include waterwheels or clappers, making loud noises such as hitting empty cans or firing blanks, dazzling fluttering cloth or shiny metal pieces, and hanging dead birds. Scents are achieved by burning hair, oil-soaked cloth, fish heads, or animal meat, and the resulting stench is used to keep birds and animals away. The word kakashi is said to have originally come from the word 'kakashi' (scarecrow). Human-shaped devices are intended to be mistaken for humans, but they are also the residence of rice field gods. They watch over the fields for long periods of time, and once the harvest is over they are no longer of any use, so events such as raising the scarecrow and celebrating the scarecrow festival are held to welcome them home from the fields and worship them in the gardens with offerings.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia About Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Information

Japanese:

農作物を害する鳥獣を追払う装置や設備。音や光でおどすもの，臭いで退散させるもの，人形を立てるものなどがある。音や光でおどすものには，水車や鳴子を使ったり，空缶をたたいたり，空砲を撃つなどして大きな音をたてたり，ひらひらする布や，きらきら光る金属片などで幻惑させたり，鳥の死骸をぶら下げておどすものなどがある。臭いによるものは，髪の毛，油をしみこませた布，魚の頭，獣肉などを焼き焦がし，その悪臭で鳥獣を近づけまいとする方法で，本来カカシの語も，嗅がしの転じたものといわれる。人の形に似せたものは，人と見まちがわせようとするものであるが，これは田の神の依座でもある。長い期間にわたって田畑を見守り，収穫が終れば用がなくなるところから，カカシ上げ，カカシ祭などといって，田から家に迎え入れ，庭で供物をあげて祀る行事が行われる。

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