The shishi-odoshi was used to scare animals like
deer away from agicultural fields. It is a cool looking device so people put them in gardens long ago.
The concept the shishi-odoshi goes back to the water scoop. Also called water Anke. A Gnepfe is a batch-type hydraulic machine ( as an alternative to the continuous force or torque -applying water wheels).
Unlike a water wheel a water scoop operates intermittently, like a seesaw: A container (a
bucket or cup) at the end of a lever is filled with water in the upper position. The container side becomes heavier, and so the lever with the filled container moves downward, which may be used to operate a machine drive. In the lower position the container is emptied, and the lever moves back into the upward position.
Because of their inferior efficiency compared to a water mill, water scoops were less common, and have been used in the past mostly for applications where linear motion is required rather than rotation, for example hammers in smitheries, saws in sawmills, and stamp mills in mining.
Below are two sites that have pictures of water scoop being used.
First is Swiss, the second japan. Pictures are not detailed but they show that Asia and Europe both used these devices in the past.
http://www.deutsches-museum.de/en/sammlungen/machines/power-engines/water-power/waterwheels/swiss-water-scoop/
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnepfe
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