One thing we noticed, was that there was a surprising lack of insects about, especially for the first part of July.  Normally, I would have expected to be assaulted by mosquitoes, flies, various types of bees or wasps (yellow jackets!) or to see at least a cockroach or two scurrying around on the street.

Especially when we got to Takao, we packed a healthy sized bottle of industrial grade insect repellent.  We didn’t use it, not a bit.  Neither did we at Hakone, or even our evening out at Enoshima.  I figured being out at dusk with a few lights on, we’d be swarmed by gnats, or moths, or more mosquitoes, or something.

But nothing.  I think the only significant insect traffic we encountered were ants on various rocks where we sat down, a few stray houseflies, and that was it.  Only a few times, also, were we aware of the expected insect “drone” that you would expect to hear.  Crickets, cicadas, that sort of thing.  Only at Enoshima was that sound readily audible.  Even at Takao, the forest was surprisingly silent, even the birds weren’t talking.

I had read the stories of the strange and wonderful insects we would probably encounter.  The huge and colorful beetles, the mosquitoes, the butterflies….  All absent.

Either they’ve discovered a way to eradicate the “annoying bug” factor (please share it with us over here, k thx bai!) or we just got lucky, its hard to say.

I’m curious to hear some other experiences with Japanese insects.

No related posts.