Fireflies

Yesterday, I went and saw fireflies (hotaru, 蛍) for the first time in my life. We went to a place held secret by friends of ours to see the little creatures slowly flitter around. It was a beautiful sight that thankfully wasn't spoiled by crowds of people.

It is easy to see why they are held with such importance in Japan. Some sources say they are the souls of the dead, but most do not think of that and search for them because... well, they are beautiful. We went to a place around 30 minutes away from here that is very rural and slightly tricky accessing. We were then taken by our friends to a little marshy area with a few large isolated trees beside a woody hillside. After the sun had completely nestled behind the mountains and lost its glow, the fireflies beeped their fluorescence. Then, they arose from their hidden positions under the tree and very slowly flew around the area. There were thousands of them, so it made for a very pretty sight.

I didn't have the right equipment to take a quality photo, so unfortunately I have nothing to show here. I was surprised at how slowly they fly from one place to another, and how they were not afraid of humans. However, we were strongly advised by locals to not touch them due to the temperature difference between them and our skin, and the fragility of their exoskeleton.

On a side note, whenever I think of the word hotaru / fireflies, I am reminded of the extremely sad animated movie "Grave of the Fireflies" (Hotaru no haka, 蛍の墓). If you have not seen it, I highly recommend it. It isn't really suitable for children though, as a few of the scenes may cause a few nightmares. I showed it to my Grade 8 boys in Australia one year, which got a mixed response - too difficult to understand the history of the situation and too afraid of showing any emotion (it is very sad).