The pet of choice in Japan, as much as cuddly kitties and playful puppies, is the humble bug.
It has been a key part of Japanese culture from the Heian era classic The Tale of Genji to popular modern-day manga and animation such as Mushishi, featuring insect-like supernatural creatures.
Japanese appreciate the glitter of fireflies let loose in the garden or the gentle chirping of crickets kept in a little cage. You can feed the bug pets watermelon, but special jelly pet food is also available at stores. Naturally, bugs are on sale as well, with the more esoteric of them selling for ￥20,000 (US$135).
Photo: AP
In Japan, crawly and buzzing critters are not just relegated to the scientific realm of the entomologist working on a taxidermy of pinned butterflies. Celebrities boast about their fascination with bug-hunting as their hobbies just like a Western movie star might talk about their yacht or golf score.
The bug as companion is an essential part of what is observed, enjoyed and cared for in everyday life, reflecting a deeply rooted celebration of humankind’s oneness with nature.
“They are so tiny. If you catch and study them, you’re sure to discover something new,” said Munetoshi Maruyama, professor of bioenvironmental sciences at Kyushu University, whose fascination with bugs began as a child, like many Japanese. “They are so beautiful in shape and form.”
One thrill that comes from studying insects is discovering a new species, simply because there are more than 1.2 million known kinds of insects, far more than mammals, which translates to a lot of undiscovered ones, said Maruyama, who has discovered 250 new insect species himself and shrugs that off as a relatively small number.
Japan differs from much of the West in encouraging interaction with bugs from childhood, with lots of books written for children, as well as classes and tours.
“In Japan, kids love bugs. You can even buy a net at a convenience store,” he said. “It’s fantastic that bugs can serve as a doorway to science.”
That some insects go through metamorphoses, transforming from a larva to a butterfly adds to the excitement, allowing kids to observe the stages of a life span, he said.
Tracing the movement of bugs can be a way to study global warming, too, while “social insects,” such as bees and ants show intelligence in how they communicate, remember routes to find their way back to their nests or burrow elaborate underground paths as colonies.
The love affair with bugs was clear at an exhibit in Tokyo, aptly called “The Great Insect Exhibition,” running through the end of this month at the Sky Tree Tower, where crowds of children gathered around trees inside indoor cages so they could observe and touch the various beetles.
One kind of rhinoceros beetle known as Hercules, which originated in the Caribbean, but is now also found in Japan, is reputed to be the biggest beetle on record at 5cm to 8.5cm in length. Its back coat is a shiny khaki color, though such shades change depending on the season.
Four-year-old Asahi Yamauchi, who was at the exhibit with his grandmother and getting his photograph taken inside a special installation that made it look like he was inside a beetle, loves bugs as much as he loves dinosaurs and has what he called a cute beetle as a pet at home.
“My friend had one so I wanted one,” he said.
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