Alex Quinn's Japan Journal

6/15/2005, Bugs, mukade, bugs, cockroach, bugs, moths, bugs, beetles, bugs!

It's June in Japan.  Spring has sprung.  Now it's time for every nasty creature in all of Japan to come out and make a feast of the sprouting rice plants, fallen cherry blossoms, and blooming rose plants.  And, it's time for bigger bugs to eat those bugs.  And, even bigger bugs to eat those bugs.  Japan has become a sea of bugs.  Well, okay.  Sitting at my desk at school, I don't see any at this very moment.  But, there are tons of bugs.  Scratch that.  Jugs of bugs.

Mukade

Mukade are a particularly disturbing part of the landscape.  They are large poisonous centipedes.  They tend to be around 10 cm (4 inches), but they range from about 8 cm (3 inches) to 20 cm (8 inches).  A bite is said to be somewhere between a bee sting and a scorpion sting.  Some people choose to go to the hospital.  Without treatment, the affected area generally turns red and swells up to about twice the size.  It could probably kill a small child.  They come inside the house and hide under your futon.  Then, they come out at night.  They are nocturnal bugs.  They climb on the walls and ceiling and often fall from the ceiling, occasionally onto people below.  They're nasty creatures.  They're fast and hard to kill.  They are one reason why I chose to pay about $330 (≈¥60,000) for a bed when I came here.  It gives me a little insulation when I'm sleeping.

Before I came to Japan, I was told mukade were rare in my area.  Wrong.  We've had 6 or 7 of them in our building in the last few weeks.  Scott had one in his apartment.  Nate found one in the stairwell.  I had one come in through my kitchen door.  One crawled up Susanne's leg while she was standing outside the building.  Shelley killed one.  My neighbor caught two in her flowers yesterday.  It's a bit of an event when you find one.  If you see one, you must find, catch, and kill it.  Boiling water is best.  I used poison spray on the one in my kitchen.  I was sitting eating breakfast with Akemi.  Akemi looked over at me with a shocked, white face.  I didn't know what she was talking about until I turned around and saw the bugger climbing on my kitchen door, on the inside.  It was a bit of a production killing it.

This is the one I found in my kitchen.  Not too big.  He's upside down.  When viewed from the top like normal, they are black with red legs.

Here he is again, still upside down, with a couple coins to show the size.  This one is relatively small.

So, now I'm feeling like I'm living in a house with poisonous snakes on the loose.  Centipedes are not snakes, but given their shape, apparent slimeyness, black color, and poison, it doesn't feel too different.  Anyone who knows me well knows I can be a bit irrational about wasps.  This is a lot like that.  I don't like stuff that sneaks up on you and causes a problem and pain.  I'll take my life in harmony.  Thank you.

More bugs

Besides that, I've got all kinds of moths, beetles, fleas, and tiny flies in my apartment.  I try to keep my apartment clean and dry.  I don't leave dirty dishes out.  I put fruit and meat related garbage in the freezer until trash day.  Rice, fruit, oatmeal, vegetables, and the like go either in the freezer or in covered bins.  But, things like the bathroom and the kitchen drain are hard to solve.  Yesterday, I saw a cockroach in the kitchen.  It's the first time I've ever seen a cockroach in any house I've ever lived in.  It was just one, but I'm sure there are more.

Anyway, that's the bug problem in so many words.

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