FEATURE: Giant cockroach statue brings new life to shrinking Nara village

NARA, Japan - A giant bronze cockroach with muscular arms and a sumo wrestler's stance is drawing tourists to a shrinking mountain village in western Japan, where the bizarre temple statue has become an unexpected tourist draw.

Installed more than 25 years ago at Rinsenji Temple in the village of Kamikitayama, Nara Prefecture, the towering "Gokiburiten" -- a cockroach deity -- was originally built as a memorial for pests.