Sister Village press release
SisterVillagePressRelease
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Cambria, CaliforniaThe Cambria Scarecrow Festival is happy to announce its partnership with the Okuharima Scarecrow Village. This special village, also known as the Okuharima Kakashi Village, is nestled in the mountains of the Hyogo Prefecture of Japan. It is home to 130 scarecrows or “kakashis” and only more than a dozen villagers. These kakashis are up all year long.
Kakashi is the Japanese word for scarecrows. Yet unlike American scarecrows who are meant to scare off birds, Japanese scarecrows are made to radiate warm feelings.
Okuharima, like many small, rural villages in Japan, was experiencing a decreasing population. A few years ago, one villager Mr. Masato Okaue began making kakashis with the hope of revitalizing the area. The community embraced his efforts hoping that their scarecrow paradise would attract visitors and enliven the sleepy village. Now visitors enjoy the scarecrows while experiencing the Japanese culture firsthand year round.
Nippon Travel Agency, located in California and specializing in Japanese tours, recently began promoting the Okuharima Scarecrow Village and in August 2022, they reached out to the Cambria Scarecrow Festival. Upon further discussions, it was decided that it would be beneficial to both if they become sister scarecrow villages.
In 2022, the Cambria Scarecrow Festival received their very own kakashi, named Sakura, made by Mr. Okaue. She saw her first appearance at that year’s festival.Then in March 2023, Cambria volunteer Gail Hammerschmidt lovingly made “Bonnie”, inspired and named for scarecrow volunteer Bonnie Neuer who passed away in early 2023. “Bonnie” now lives over the ocean in Okuharima.
During the 2022 Cambria Scarecrow Festival a delegation from the agency was treated to a special tour of the scarecrows by Paulla Ufferheide, President of the Cambria Scarecrow Festival.
“These “people”, “who” stay up year round, brought their village back to life, much like our scarecrow festival brings Cambria back to life during the slow month of October.” says Paulla, “We are happy to promote their village and are very excited to have them promoting our scarecrow festival to the Japanese market.”
If you want to see the kakashis in person, the village is two hours from Osaka and one hour from Himeji Castle. For more information on the Okuharima Kakashi Village, you can visit their website at http://www.furusato-kakashi.net/okuharima.html or go to Nippon Travel at ntaamerica.com.
You can visit the Cambria Scarecrow Festival every October. The scarecrows are up for the entire month. If you want to learn more about the Cambria Scarecrow Festival closer to home, go to http://CambriaScarecrows.com.
End of Release
Contact:
Cambria Scarecrow Festival Phone: (805) 203-9200
Email: info@cambriascarecrows.com
Website: https://cambriascarecrows.com/
