Summer
is the season that many of bugs become active. Until 20-30 years ago "bug hunting" had been a major kids' play in Japan, especially among boys. During summer vacations, kids were running around chasing bugs with insect nets and were proud of themselves if they catch big beetles or beautiful insects such as Japanese rhinoceros beetles (Kabuto-mushi), stag beetles (Kuwagata mushi), or big dragonflies (Yanma).
The bug in the photo above is called
“Tamamushi” in Japanese and it means “Jewel Beetle”. Because of its beautiful metallic color. In fact it was used for decorations in anciant times it was used for decoration in ancient times. When I was little it still was one of the popular bugs and I would be showing it off to my friends if I could catch one.
Now the "bug hunting" is only a minor activity for kids, especially these popular insects are in decline in big cities, such as the center of Tokyo. So, city kids have to buy insects when they want to have them and nowadays the aforesaid popular insects are available at pet shops. However, in West Tokyo area, kids can still enjoy catching bugs since enough wildness is remaining there.
Being intimate with bugs may be a part of the Japanese culture, but how about trying it out?
Today, July 1st , finally the climbing season for Mt. Fuji started! It is called “Yama-biraki Day(Mountain-Opening Day) .
This
year, the news told that safety goods were equipped at mountain huts
there and the evacuation map is being made for the first time ever. It
might sound strange since it is one of the most famous volcanoes in
Japan, but the last eruption was in 1707. Mt. Fuji has been dormant for
more than 300years, so Japanese people almost forgot the fact it is a non-dead
volcano, and hadn’t really thought of the eruption. However people
started to think about the possibility in these days since some
volcanoes became active recently and a couple of them erupted all of
sudden.
The photos are taken from the west side of Tokyo. Although it
looks very beautiful, when you go close to climb the mountain you will
see the upper place of it is covered by volcanic sand and rocks and has
no plants. After all it is really a volcano and the outline
is so sharply showing the beautiful symmetry shape with the flat top which is a huge crater from distance like in
the photo below.
