At the end of rice harvesting season, the folks of the Kagawa and Niigata Prefectures in Japan hold a straw festival to celebrate the abundance of the harvest. Dried straws cover wooden frames to form larger-than-life sculptures from animals like sharks and gorillas to vessels such as ships and tanks. The family-friendly event invites visitors of all ages to engage, interact, and play on the enormous structures.

Susanna Bauer was born in 1969 in Bavaria, Germany. She has lived in England since 1996. Susanna has worked for the television and film industry for over 16 years, making objects like King Arthur’s chalice, cheeses for Wallace and Gromit, miniature robots, spaceships and buildings.

A man has an egg smashed on his head to raise money for charity during the World Egg Throwing Championships and Vintage Day in Swaton, Britain June 28, 2015. (Photo by Darren Staples/Reuters)

Jason Garcia poses as The Joker from Batman at the 2015 Comic-Con International in San Diego, California, July 9, 2015. (Photo by Sandy Huffaker/Reuters)

A man holding a tray of belongings wades through a road at an area flooded by the Omoigawa river, caused by typhoon Etau in Oyama, Tochigi prefecture, Japan, in this photo taken by Kyodo September 10, 2015. (Photo by Reuters/Kyodo News)

French engineer and professional violinist Laurent Bernadac poses with the “3Dvarius”, a 3D printed violin made of transparent resin, during an interview with Reuters in Paris, France, September 11, 2015. (Photo by Christian Hartmann/Reuters)

A seafood vendor moves a giant swordfish to his stall at a market in Qingdao, Shandong province, China, September 12, 2015. The 4.1-metre-long (13.5 feet) swordfish, weighed about 309.5 kilograms (682 lbs), was caught by local fishermen on Friday, local media reported. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

Cass Gilmore harvests cranberries in a bog at Gilmore Cranberry Company in Carver, Massachusetts September 14, 2015, the beginning of the cranberry harvesting season. According to the Cape Cod Cranberry Growers' Association, 200,000,000 pounds of cranberries are grown annually in Massachusetts. (Photo by Brian Snyder/Reuters)