Dick and Jane Go A-Hunting

I remember reading picture books when I was little where the story involved kids trying to catch butterflies with nets. I think I even saw that sort of thing in old movies. But I can't remember one instance of me or anyone I know grabbing their butterfly net and a lunch pail and going butterfly hunting. Our hands were good enough for whatever insect we wanted to snag.

It seems to me, that when it comes to bug catching, Japanese children live in the Dick and Jane world of butterfly nets and bug cages. Wherever you go during summer vacation you are bound to see at least three kids prowling for insects, their nets at the ready.

Maybe the difference lies in the type of bugs they are catching. My favorites were always lightning bugs, rolly polly bugs, and caterpillars, but in Japan they're aiming for the big stuff: cicadas. I am told that cicadas do not annoy all parts of the United States with their buzzing/humming, but we had them in Indiana. They were elusive creatures, never seen, only heard. The only way you could tell they truly existed was by the shells of skin they left on the trees for you to find in the morning.

But in Japan, they are not only an ever-present hum outside your house, cicadas are also small torpedoes to be avoided when riding your bike, walking your dog, or merely checking your mailbox. And so, the children arm themselves with nets and strong cages, competing as to who can snag the most.

A child was telling his father in the park this morning, "I'm gonna get ten!!" And I could believe it, for in fifteen minutes he had already collected four.