Live from Japan!

As a general rule, everything in Japan is smaller than in the States. The homes are smaller, the beds are smaller (shorter), the bikes are smaller, the kitchens are smaller, the people are smaller and the portions are smaller. For the most part, it can be accepted as a given that if it is made in Japan, it is probably smaller than anything similar made in the States. But, this has not been a universal rule.

I have found one exception. The bugs are definitely bigger in Japan.

We have been fortunate enough, knock on wood, to not encounter any mukade yet. The thought of them still terrifies me. Even though we haven’t seen them, we have seen plenty of other bugs. Cicadas, for instance.

The cicadas here are enormous. Every now and again, as I ride my bike on the way to school one will buzz through the air and run into me. It is almost like being hit by a small bird. Given all the whoopla about cicadas in Chicago this past spring, I wasn’t expecting to be surprised by them here. But I have been surprised, not only are they huge, they can also be deafening.

Each day I ride past a little temple on my bike ride to school. The temple is surrounded by taller trees and lots of greenery. As a result there are plenty of places for these little guys to hang out. It seems like they find this lush green spot in the world and have a little party. And nothing is more enjoyable at a party than singing a little song. The cicadas love to sing. They greet the day, each and every day, humming for all to hear. I can hardly help stopping each day just to listen to them and think about how many of them it must take to make such a loud sound.

We also found this other large, creepy looking bug on a bike tire the other day. I have no idea what he is, I suppose I don’t even really care. But he was big and creepy and I am glad that I did not happen upon him when I was alone and it was dark.

And, as for the spider that was under the bed at Camp Horado, it wasn’t a tiny spider. It was a good quarter sized spider, and that is definitely large enough to creep me out just a little bit.