‘The City Starts Walking’

Not far from Koriyama Station, the main entrance to the city, stands a trio of bizarre sculptures; each a humanoid stone with three golden orbs for its eyes and beak, legs but no arms, resembling a misshapen cross between a bird and a potato.

It is a charming work of art, if not overtly eye-catching, sure to stop oblivious passersby in their tracks and make them do a double-take if they notice them. But they are likely to be left wondering: what are they?

Given the title of The City Starts Walking, the sculpture was created in August 1995 when an underground power line was installed on the street. As part of the makeover, the city held a design competition, which was won by Ryuichi Koizumi, the CEO of a Fukushima-based landscaping company.

According to Koizumi, his artwork is a sort of personification of a city as it becomes an organic entity and starts walking of its own will towards its ideals. It was made life-size so that it would easily blend in amid the everyday life of the city.