Singing Insects

I’m going to roll over, 
so please move, 
        cricket. 
–Issa

Insect song has been a part of Japanese culture for centuries. Singing insects are kept as pets and appreciated for their calls.

“Singing crickets have some symbolism in Japanese culture, where they are symbols of autumn and they’re the symbols of approaching winter and the death of life, so they have a kind of melancholy, nostalgic quality.”

Dr. Robert Pemberton is a research entomologist who studies Asian insect culture. He notes that in Imperial Japan, expeditions would be organized to listen for singing insects.

“Arshiyama which is outside of Kyoto, the old imperial capital was one of the favorite places to hear the Bell cricket. And the Imperial Court would have outings in which they would go and sit and have a picnic and listen to the singing insects and then they would collect them and take them back to court where they would identify them and discuss them and judge the best calling individuals”

“I think the Japanese have a special ability to appreciate the small and subtle aspects of nature and I’m not sure how that started. It might relate to religion where in the Shamanistic, Shinto religion or in the Buddhist, people see themselves as more a part of nature.”