There is a story about Enoshima Station, a station located in a city called Fujisawa. What makes this station special? It has eight metal sparrows on display! These sparrows are not real birds, but they’re very fun to look at. Why? Because they wear different outfits all year long.
In spring, they might wear flower hats. During summer, they could have on tiny swimsuits. When it’s cold, they wear warm clothes. For holidays like Christmas, they dress up too. People love to visit the station just to see what the sparrows are wearing each day.
One of the cutest outfits the sparrows wear are small sweaters. For almost 20 years, a kind woman knitted these sweaters for them. She did this until she passed away. Because of her, the sparrows in sweaters became a symbol of kindness.
For a long time, no one knew who made the sparrows’ outfits. It was a big mystery! Now, thanks to the sweater-knitting lady, we know at least one of the people behind this fun tradition.
Story About Enoshima Station: 20 Of Love With Sparrows
Eight little bronze birds sit on a railing at Enoshima Station in Japan. A company called Sunpole made them. They named the piece “Picolino,” which means “little things” in Italian. The birds were put there to stop kids from climbing on the railing.
Each railing has four birds, and one bird is always a bit away from the others. This is to help kids make up their own stories.
In the winter of 1999, the birds started wearing clothes once a month. This made people who visited the station curious. The person who started this was Mrs. Ishikawa Katsuko, a lady who worked near the station.
Every day, she saw the birds sitting on the railing, whether it was sunny or rainy. When winter came, she worried that the birds might be cold, so she decided to make sweaters for them.
At the end of each month, Mrs. Ishikawa changes the birds’ clothes. In the summer, when it’s hot and rainy, she changes them twice a month because she worries the sweaters might fade or get out of shape.
She once said that it takes a lot of time to change the birds’ clothes because she has to use special glue to stick the clothes on and fix them. So, she and two friends change the birds’ clothes early in the morning when there are no people around.
Gratitude of the Station
Mrs. Ishikawa also makes special sweaters for the birds for holidays and different seasons. For example, in September, which is when Enoshima Station was built, the birds wear green and yellow shirts, the colors of the station’s trains. During cherry blossom season, they wear pretty pink sweaters. At Christmas, they wear red and blue sweaters with shiny yellow bells. And during the World Cup, she changes the birds’ clothes to match the colors of different countries’ flags.
Mrs. Ishikawa made sweaters for the birds for 17 years. There were times when she had to stop, like when she retired in 2006. But a year later, a visitor sent her a picture of the birds wearing their sweaters, and this made her want to start again.
On April 2, 2010, the 100th anniversary of Enoshima Station, the station’s director, Mr. Fukaya, gave Mrs. Ishikawa a thank-you letter for the warm sweaters she made for the birds.
Ms. Sanshiko Koike and the continuation of her friend’s work
Over nearly 10 years, she made thousands of sweaters. She didn’t keep them unless someone asked her to. Mrs. Ishikawa was very good at knitting and could make a sweater for a bird in about 30 minutes.
But as she got older, knitting became harder. She still tried to make as many sweaters as she could, especially in winter when she worried the birds might be cold.
When she got sick and had to go to the hospital, she had to stop knitting. But her close friend, Mrs. Sanshiko Koike, promised to keep making the sweaters. Their children were classmates, and the two families were very close.
In 2016, after many years of making sweaters for the birds, Mrs. Ishikawa passed away. Many people were very sad. But thanks to her, the little bronze birds at Enoshima Station always have something warm to wear.
Warmth is spreading over Japan
Not just Ms. Koike, but many other people also started dressing up the sparrow statues near their homes. For instance, four sparrows in Yokohama City got new shirts to support the local football team, Yokohama F. Marinos. In the summer, they wear bathrobes to enjoy the fireworks. Similarly, the birds at Anazawaten Shrine in Tokyo get dressed up in Christmas outfits.
Many people fell in love with the cute sparrow statues and bought them to display at home. They also continued to change their outfits. During the COVID-19 pandemic, a sparrow statue in an office even wore a mask. Seeing the birds in cozy sweaters, many people couldn’t help but say, “What a lovely world this is!”
When Ms. Koike changes the birds’ clothes, she often gets encouragement from others. Once, a stranger even gave her a pair of scissors when they saw her struggling to cut double-sided tape. But now, Ms. Koike is worried about who will take over the job of making sweaters for the sparrows.
