Kabutomushi

What am I thinking. I am always going to be a "animal lover" at heart. But this is not an animal. However, it is a living creature. It only took 9 months for us to get a pet here in Japan. This is it:He is a Rhinoceros Beetle. Known here in Japan as Kabutomushi or MushiKing. They are common pets here. They had the larvae at Gracie's Yochien Matsuri and they grew into these beetles. At her festival there were these bins of mulch, I did not think anything of them. Then I saw some kids digging in them and holding the bugs. I thought it was a catch and release game of sorts. Anyway, then next thing I know Patrick is carrying around a bag with a bug in it. I confirmed that we could take them home for free (I have seen them in the store for like $30) and off we went. Luckily the 100 yen store (like a dollar store) was still open and had all the supplies we needed to get started. So our bug ended up costing us $13. Not bad, and we don't have to take it to the vet.

Now what do you name something like this??? Patrick hunted through his Japanese dictionary looking for the perfect Japanese name for this bug. He finally came up with "Kyokutan" which means extreme or radical. Which describes him perfectly.

About a week later our Japanese teacher Noriko-sensei comes along with a female beetle that her father caught! The females do not have the big pincers on their heads. So now we have a couple and the kids say they are getting married.

We have had a hard time naming the girl, but I think finally she will be called "Takana-chan" since we live in Takanezawa. Not as cool as the guy, but it will do. I just pray that they live for a while. The kids are getting a kick out of them. They are fun to watch and kinda creepy to hold, but I pick them up anyway!

So much for me saying "No pets while we are in Japan"!