Alt title: Japan's Bugs
Insects are astounding, and I write about them enough that you might know of this fascination of mine. They’re intricate, strangely evolved animals. And how alien they are to our mammalian ideals! Forget all you know of them and consider: Their bones are outside of their body, they have thousands of eyes, and their insides are filled with cold, brown-gray goo. They have no thoughts, no feelings, just chasing after lights.
Japan totally adores its bugs. Because this is sort of (a bastardization of) a gaming blog at heart, here’s how much Japan loves bugs: The original Pokemon was based on bug collecting. This has in turn influenced popular game design immensely. Collect-athon RPGs, and arguably even gacha games, all stem from the simple joy of finding bugs. You can also see the obsession in the EDF series, the entire kaiju genre, along with most tokusatsu.
Of course not everyone here likes them (Many girls still scream when a spider crawls by), but their place in Japanese life is firmly cemented. In rural areas, cicadas roar like jet fighters all July long! Few Japanese insects are truly considered pests: Only the largest and most dangerous. While in the U.S. we hardly tolerate fruit flies, I’ve seen Japanese people casually wave away giant hornets like it's nothing.
GEOGRAPHY INTERMISSION!!!!
FWIW, insect density is also highly related with rurality. The highest density prefecture in Japan is Tokyo-to, with a population of 6,414 people per km. Meanwhile, Akita’s average population density is 79 per km. Insects have much more space to exist out here!
It’s kind of amazing how committed the country is to its bugs, despite it all. The asian giant hornet is a particularly big nuisance for a multitude of reasons. Killing pollinators is the primary one. Nonetheless, their control efforts aren't nearly as “scorched earth” as pest control efforts in the states are. As a result, there remain plenty of bugs on the windshield after a long drive.
It's hard not to have some level of respect for Japan’s Bugs, no matter how scary they are. I have been up close and personal with giant hornets, black horse flies, golden orb weavers, horned beetles, and bush mosquitos unlike anything I’ve ever seen back home. Everything about them, from the way they move, to how they're constructed, is fascinating. But there’s all of this fear in my heart which I really despise. I wish I could feel calm around these amazing creatures… For some reason, it's just very difficult... Maybe I was killed by mosquito-borne dengue fever in a past life…
At least when separated by the screen, I am learning to admire them. I will simply follow those Japanese bug hobbyists on twitter from the comfort of my own home.