Working around children in Japan I have absorbed a lot of their interests; including watching in horror the enormous popularity of giant beetles. In Fukushima, against my better judgement, I bought a preserved giant beetle that I knew would elicit "Ooohs" and "Ahhhs" from my students. (Best over-the-top reaction ever from the grade three's.) Honestly, I despise the thing; sleeping with care, worrying it will become a zombie hime kabuto. The root of this irrational fear, simply put; we just don't have insects this size in Alberta. Adding to my disbelief, this hellspawn can fly! I bet it can carry away small children. In Alberta (and Hokkaido) our winters are too cold for beetles to survive winter buried deep in trees. But Fukushima's forests are perfect. I have seen them before alive and in the wild but they were much smaller. Several different types of giant beetles exist. A live kabuto mushi over 10cm can be sold for over $30,000. (For unknown reasons, growing live kabuto mushi this big in captivity seems impossible expect for a few professionals, thus people search tirelessly in nature.) Once dead, a 8cm hime kabuto, such as mine, can be bought for as little as 1000 Yen. The thing will never make it to Canada. Once I have showed it to all of my students, I will throw it into the first bottomless pit I can find.
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