There is a growing concern in Japan about gomi yashiki, or trash houses, created by people who hoard useless stuff. Eventually, their collections start overflowing from their houses onto the streets. Such people often have more feline friends than human. I never realized that cats shared this same predilection for junk.
We have some of these gomi yashiki on our island. But the difference is that here, there is plenty of room to spread out, so people can collect an infinite amount of junk. Luckily, these keen collectors are not very good gardeners, so the grasses and weeds grow up over the junk and disguise it — as green piles of vines with the hint of something lurking underneath.
Some day people will uncover lost treasures preserved in people's back yards in piles of vines. Things thought lost forever will be found: ninja, the Ainu culture, and gold bars with the imperial stamp on them.