■The Seasons of Japan and Insects

Japan is rich in nature with four distinct seasons. The ancient Japanese called homeland Japan “the abundant land of rice fields with a high water”.

Various insects can be found each season. People feel each season by seeing and hearing insects in trees and flowers.

It is said that a sense of the seasons has been lost in modern Japan , however insects are still living in the highlands, countryside, towns or other places in Japan , as they have always been for thousands of years.

■Insects in Tokyo

Tokyo is one of the world's leading metropolitan cities where the population is concentrated.

People living here are surrounded by high concrete buildings and asphalt roads and are thus not subject to any soil or greenery.

However, insects live in parks around the buildings, mounds on the sides of railways, balconies of apartments and many other places in Tokyo .

There are many chances to meet with insects in Tokyo without going out to the countryside.

You may make unexpected discoveries while walking around Tokyo if you look for insects instead of just looking at them in card games or electronic games.

■Japanese People and Insects

Japan , hot and humid and elongated from the north to the south, has been rich with insects from ancient times.

Having traditionally lived in nature-friendly houses with Shouji (paper screens) and Fusuma (paper sliding doors) and surrounded by rice fields, Japanese people have been close to insects.

The oldest anthology of Japanese poetry, “Manyoshu”, contains poems about dragonflies, crickets, fireflies, and bees. Samurais (warriors) in the Kamakura and Muromachi period (13 th - 15 th centuries) believed that a human soul dwelled in a butterfly.

In the Edo period (17 th -18 th centuries), people enjoyed and felt the seasons through insects in unique Japanese ways, such as the breeding of insects.

In this manner, Japanese have had deep relationships with insects, shown not only in designs, literature or proverbs, but also in children's games or sericultural industry.

■The Great Insects Field

Insects emerged on the Earth about 400 million years ago, in the Devonian period of the Paleozoic era. Today, more than 70% of living creatures are said to be insects, and it would not be an exaggeration to say that the Earth is “the planet of insects”.

More than 1 million different insects inhabit all over the world, and there are many beautiful, huge or unique insects that we do not usually see.

If you look closely at insects, you should find them very interesting!

There are many ways to enjoy insects.

Here, let's find your own ways to enjoy insects with Professors Okumoto, Yourou and Ikdeda primarily through the precious specimens of The Nawa Insect Museum, the oldest insect museum in Japan .

Cicada in SOTOBORI park　 Photographed by Kazuo Unno

Cicada at YASUKUNI street Photographed by Kazuo Unno

■The Insects Laboratory

Humans have learned insects' mode or wisdom of life to survive in nature, and have utilized them in everyday life and industry.

Today the most advanced science and technology is also learning a lot from insect studies and trying to utilize this knowledge.

The utilization has developed broadly from the traditional approach - utilizing the shape, movement or parts of insects - to the fields of robot or medical technology discovering more about insects through advanced science.

Environmental problems, food problems, health issues and peace… the key to solving these issues might lie in a deeper relationship with insects, if we wish to create a brighter future for humans.

We still have a lot to learn from insects.

The deep relationship between humans and insects will continue forever.

■ Biodiversity and Insects

The severe deterioration of the Earth's natural environment was confirmed in the 1980s. An international rule was created to maintain all of the various animals and plants that we see today and that sprang from nature and evolved to adapt to each environment while sustaining human activities. The rule is called “Convention on Biological Diversity”, opened for signature in 1992 at the Earth Summit (the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development) held in Rio de Janeiro .

193 countries (as of January 2010) have adopted this Convention, and at COP10 (tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties) to be held in Nagoya in October, delegates of member countries and other persons, such as those from NGO, will meet to decide on the policies and efforts to be implemented.

Insects are also a part of the biodiversity.