japan and insect craze

[Anonymous]

The Woman in the Dunes is a great book by Kobo Abe that involves protagonist Junpei Niki, who is an amateur entomologist. It is fascinating in its portrayal of the obsession of insects. I will try to post a longer reply when I go over my notes, I loved this book, and the obsession, while didactic in broader regards is interesting given the new insect craze.

[Anonymous]

I think this is a great idea (though I'm not too keen on anyone fighting anyone -insect or not). This sounds like one way of getting kids excited about science and our natural surroundings. I'm wondering if it will fly in America. If someone knows about this, please fill me in. Oh, and I'm guessing the cockroach whips the dung beetle, hands down.

[Anonymous]

I wonder if the love of small packages distinctive characters, and sets of objectsetic is able to be elegant and have a cute side.
From manga to Pokeman to Hello Kitty, there's a knack for preteen appeal particularly. When I went once to a store in little Tokyo the American children were enchanted at first sight...instead of confused or "What is this?" as they often are with first encountering another culture's objects.
Personally, I think CUTE is more beautiful there than here! 😀

[Anonymous]

Re: Japan and insect craze is a great way of introducing science about insects to the students. When students get excited to learn something, they will learn it with their heart.

I will first introduce the 3 parts of an insect, head, thorax, and abdomen, then introduce to the students that a spider is not an insect because it has only 2 parts, a head and an abdomen. have students make a Venn Diagram, to see how both are the same and how they are different. I will have students draw their favorite insects, and write a research paper introducing their insect to the class. In art, I will have students decorate their favorite insects with edible materials.
edited by rliao on 6/21/2012
edited by rliao on 6/21/2012

[Anonymous]

I was surprised to see cricket arenas at the Asia Pacific museum. Guess WWF for insects has been around a long time.

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

There is an interesting article in todays LA times (10-09-05) on Japan's appreciation of insects. Apparently children enjoy catching insects and having them fight against each other. This craze has turned into the new card game fad in Japan. There are now insect cards that kids can purchase. Each card lists a certain insects powers and gives each bug a point value.(i.e. Pokemon). It is called Muchi. There is the card game, a playstation video, and there is also a television series and movie in production. They are test marketing the game in Dalllas to see if it can have the same effect in the United States. The company is hoping that it can become the next Pokemon.
I never thought that insects could be seen as superheroes or cult heroes. But it could be a good way to inform kids about insects and science. I'm just wondering how much of prized posseions are the cards with the dung beetle or cockroach?

[Author]

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