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Dec 20 2011 24 Comments

A disturbing Japanese student statue

Stood by the side of the road, with her arm raised in the standard, I’m-crossing-so-please-be-careful gesture, this statue of an elementary school student is presumably just a reminder to motorists. But, with her sad eyes and damaged features, she acts as a deterrent in more ways than one.

A face that no doubt haunts the dreams of countless generations of children, not to mention parents and people who take her picture.

scary Japanese statue

Categorized: Odd, Photography

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Ank1 says

    12/20/2011 at 10:46 am

    *shudder*

    Reply
    • Lee says

      12/20/2011 at 5:14 pm

      Indeed!

      Reply
  2. Jon says

    12/20/2011 at 1:54 pm

    Looks like he got beat up.

    Reply
    • Lee says

      12/20/2011 at 5:15 pm

      Yeah, maybe a warning about the traffic and bullying…

      Reply
  3. winnie says

    12/20/2011 at 5:32 pm

    I was shocked when I saw this. And looked so sad like calling for help.

    Reply
    • Lee says

      12/20/2011 at 10:19 pm

      Yeah, I was taken aback myself. The damaged mouth/nose definitely has something to do with it, but then there are those eyes…

      Reply
  4. AdelaideBen says

    12/20/2011 at 10:53 pm

    Is it just me… or where the white paint has come off looks like a real face underneath (it’s late, perhaps I’m just imagining things). But it sort of makes me think of some Bgrade horror/sci-fi of a small english town where people go missing, only to be found turned into street mannequins. Spooky – but thanks for sharing this with my dreams. Oyasumi… I think.

    Reply
    • Lizzy says

      12/20/2011 at 11:02 pm

      I see it, too. I can’t help but think that the chipped re-paint job does this statue a real disservice. Even when it was fresh. Can’t imagine what prompted the white face and blue/pink features in the first place. Almost like it was a prank….

      Reply
  5. Cynthia says

    12/20/2011 at 11:17 pm

    definitely looks like there’s an human under the picture, kinda a mummified / waxed… O_O scary

    Reply
  6. Hampus says

    12/20/2011 at 11:18 pm

    What makes it really creepy, and perhaps I’m stating the obvious here, is that it appears the face was originally painted with lifelike skin tones and features, but was then for some reason painted over with a blue and white, sad-clown look. The white paint now chipping off and revealing the human face beneath makes it all the more disturbing.

    Reply
    • Hampus says

      12/20/2011 at 11:20 pm

      Seems I should have refreshed the page before posting that.

      Reply
      • Lee says

        12/21/2011 at 12:02 am

        To be honest it wasn’t something I’d picked up on until Ben, Lizzy and Cynthia mentioned it above.

        Needless to say it is now all the more unsettling….

        Reply
  7. Calissaja says

    12/20/2011 at 11:26 pm

    Another scary face! What with the scarecrows and this creature, I feel as if there are eyes everywhere…

    I think the damage to the statue is a comment on the perils of walking, cycling and driving in Japan. Never come across a population so determined to cause/die in a traffic accident of some description.

    Reply
    • Lee says

      12/21/2011 at 12:04 am

      I know. It often amazes me that the streets aren’t littered with bodies the way cyclists and pedestrians seem utterly oblivious to anything and everything around them.

      Reply
  8. Don says

    12/21/2011 at 1:08 am

    I totally agree it’s the colors underneath and the way they show through that’s so creepy. Without them I could seem myself simply thinking “That’s kind of odd,” and moving on. As it is my first reaction was “What’s tha… Ewwww…”

    Reply
    • Lee says

      12/21/2011 at 9:40 am

      It was the sad eyes that initially struck me.

      Reply
  9. Jeffrey says

    12/21/2011 at 1:56 am

    And here with my rudimentary knowledge of the language and culture always assumed that these were advertisements for clown schools.

    Reply
    • Lee says

      12/21/2011 at 9:41 am

      Haha!

      Reply
  10. Shizuo says

    12/22/2011 at 6:41 am

    I was scared, like there a human face behind the white paint. Seriously, that’s really creepy.
    T_T

    Reply
    • Lee says

      12/22/2011 at 5:27 pm

      Yes, not something I’d like to see everyday, that’s for sure.

      Reply
  11. Anonymous UK says

    12/24/2011 at 6:41 am

    A souvenir from the House of Wax? O_O

    Reply
    • Lee says

      12/24/2011 at 10:55 am

      Quite possibly!

      Reply
  12. Big Mac says

    12/25/2011 at 2:11 pm

    Ronald McDonald’s early years.

    Reply
    • Lee says

      12/25/2011 at 11:17 pm

      Haha, that could well be true!

      Reply

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