A Crow Put a Nut on the Road. The Marathon Had Closed the Road.

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A manga artist in Japan shared a bonus photo from the day of a local marathon. The road in front of her had been closed to traffic for the race, and in the middle of it stood a crow, looking, in her words, rather deflated.

Crows in Japan are well known for a clever habit: they leave hard-shelled nuts on the road and wait for passing cars to run over them and crack them open. This crow had set down a horse chestnut on the asphalt, just like always. Then, for some reason, not a single car came.

The replies are a mix of sympathy, offers to crack the nut by hand, and people sharing their own observations of crows and cars.

Comments

Bonus photo from yesterday. The road was closed to traffic for a marathon. The crow put a horse chestnut on the road like always, but for some reason not a single car came. Now it’s just standing there looking dejected.

昨日のおまけ写真。マラソンで交通規制になった車道。いつものようにトチの実を道路に置いてもなぜか一台も車が来なくてしょんぼりしているカラス。

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Major “why though……” energy.

「なんでや……」感スゴイ

It really does look so dejected!! 😅

ほんとにしょんぼりしてるー！😅

It was seriously deflated lol

相当しょんぼりでした笑

“Why aren’t the shell-cracking guys coming today……”

「今日はなぜか殻割るヤツこない・・・」

“No one’s cracking it for me… so depressed…” 😂 Aww, poor thing…

「割ってもらえなくて鬱…」😂ｶﾜｲｿ…

I bet it had no idea why the cars weren’t coming lol

なんで車が来ないのか不思議だったと思います笑

You can tell exactly how it’s feeling just from its back…lol

凄く背中から心境が伝わってくる…w

The way it’s still holding another one in its beak is kind of sad too

お口にもうひとつ加えてるところも切ない

Oh, it’s feeling down! So cute ❤

しょんぼりしてるんだ！可愛い❤

After this, one of the security staff threw the chestnuts away and the crow got a little mad lol (Fair enough, it would be bad if a runner stepped on one 😅)

この後、警備の方にトチの実を捨てられてちょっと怒ってたよ笑 (ランナーが踏んだら大変だもんね😅)

Horse chestnuts are crazy bitter, aren’t they? Is that really fine for a crow?

栃の実はめちゃくちゃアクが強いのに、カラスは平気なんですか?

Crows will eat pretty much anything. They eat rowan berries too.

カラスは割と何でも食べるよナナカマドの実も食べる

No matter how smart crows are, they can’t exactly know the traffic closure schedule in advance…

いくら知能が高くても、さすがに交通規制の予定まではわからないですもんね…

Give it another five years or so and it’ll probably figure out “huh, there’s a time every year when no cars come through.”

あと5年くらいしたら「なんか毎年車通らない時期あるよな」って学習しそう

Time to change strategy, crow! Dive-bomb it onto the asphalt and crack it that way! Actually, the crows in Morioka used to dive-bomb their nuts instead of using cars, and at some point they upgraded. Has the old technique been lost to history? (Morioka is a city in Iwate Prefecture, in northern Japan.)

そういう時は作戦変更、アスファルトに急降下爆撃で割るんだよカラスっ！というか盛岡のカラスは昔は車じゃなくて急降下爆撃で割ってたのに、いつのまにか進歩してる。昔の方法は失伝してしまったのだろうか。

Meanwhile, here’s a crow that put out a walnut and waited for a car, only to have it pulverized by a big truck and stand there at a total loss.

こっちはクルミを置いて車を待ってたら大型トラックに粉砕されて途方に暮れるカラス。

There was a Japanese walnut tree near my place too, and the crows used to put the nuts on the road. Whenever I spotted one I’d go “leave it to me!” and walk over to step on it. When a nut didn’t get run over, the crow would tilt its head like “maybe not here?” and move to another spot, which was adorable. But the tree got chopped down and now it’s a weed-blocking sheet area… I wonder what it’ll do this winter…

うちの近所にもオニグルミの木があってカラスが道路に置いてたなぁ。見つけたらよっしゃ任せろ！って踏みに行ってた。轢いてもらえない時は「ここじゃなかったかな？」って感じで首を傾げて、場所を変えてて可愛かった。でもバッサリ伐られて防草シートエリアになっちゃった…。冬どうするんだろう…

So sad (´・ω・｀)

悲しい(´・ω・｀)

Just for today I’ll crack it for you, so bring it over

今日だけはかわりに割ってあげるから、持ってきなよ

I want to go over there with a hammer and crack it for the crow

トンカチ持って行って割ってあげたい

Waaaah 😭 I’m coming to help with a hammer!!! (straight to getting stopped by the police, though) (Police in Japan can stop and question people who look suspicious on the street, a routine known as “shokushitsu.”)

わあああ😭 ハンマー持って助けに行くよおおお（職質まっしぐら

Oh no! This auntie will crack it with her butt! Bring it over here! (The dialect is Kansai-style, the stereotypical bold, warm voice of an Osaka auntie.)

あぁん！おばちゃんが尻で割ったるやんこっち持ってきいな！

My take

Such a wistful sight. Chin up, crow. Tomorrow the road will be full of cars again.

#Funny #Animals

Source & translation note

Comments loosely translated for tone. Reactions collected from Togetter and X threads.

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