On the heels of Brian’s post about the truculent crows of Tokyo, I thought I’d share a charming story I uncovered about a family of very ingenious swallows.

A family of swallows lives in this youkan shop in Futaminoura, Japan.

The shop was built in the Taisho period, and specializes in sweets flavored slightly with salt from the ocean. That’s a real piece of gold on top.

Inside the shop, up high against the ceiling, is this little Shinto shrine. You can just make out a sheet of paper sticking out from the bottom shelf. It’s hard to tell from this photo, but the paper is covered with bird droppings. That’s because, at the very top, is a bird’s nest.

The store proprietor told me that the swallow population has plummeted in the area because crows will not stop attacking them. This resourceful swallow couple decided that the safest place to start a family was inside the shop. And what’s safer than a shrine?

I asked the shop proprietor if she closes the store doors. She says that she does, promptly at 7PM every night, by which point the swallows have come home for the day. She says they remain inside, quietly, until 5:30 in the morning when she gets up extra early to open the door