12 Creatures and Their Stories
01
カブトムシkabutomushi
The Japanese rhinoceros beetle, a symbol of Japanese summer. Males use their large horn to fight rivals, and larger individuals usually win. Larvae spend one to two years in leaf litter before emerging as adults — who then live for only one to three months.
02
クワガタムシkuwagatamushi
The stag beetle, named for its oversized jaws, which resemble the shape of a kuwa (a farming hoe). Over 1,500 species exist worldwide, and the largest — a South American species — can reach 12 cm in length.
03
ゲンジボタルgenji-hotaru
Japan's best-known firefly species. Its blink interval famously differs by region — about once every 2 seconds in western Japan, versus once every 4 seconds in the east. The larvae live in rivers, feeding on freshwater snails, and adults eat almost nothing at all.
04
オニヤンマoniyanma
Japan's largest dragonfly at about 10 cm long, with bold yellow-and-black stripes. It can fly at up to 70 km/h and is said to catch prey mid-flight with roughly 95% success. There's even a folk trick of clipping a model oniyanma to a hat to keep horseflies away.
05
アマガエルamagaeru
The Japanese tree frog, named "rain frog" for its habit of croaking before rain. Suction pads on its toes let it cling to glass and the undersides of leaves, and it can shift its skin color between green, brown, and gray depending on its surroundings.
06
ニホンヤモリnihon yamori
The Japanese gecko, known as yamori — "house guardian" — for its habit of patrolling walls after dark. Its toes are covered in hundreds of millions of microscopic hairs, letting it cling to smooth surfaces through molecular-level Van der Waals forces, not suction or glue.
07
キタキツネkita kitsune
A fox subspecies native to Hokkaido, known for its "mouse jump" — leaping high into the air to pin down mice hidden under snow. It also carries the parasite Echinococcus, so direct contact or drinking untreated mountain stream water in fox habitat carries real risk.
08
アリジゴクarijigoku
The larval form of the antlion, which digs a cone-shaped pit trap in sand and waits at the bottom to grab ants that fall in. As a larva, it lives two to three years and barely excretes waste at all — before eventually transforming into a delicate, lacewing-like adult.
09
イリエワニirie wani
The saltwater crocodile, the largest living reptile on Earth, reaching up to 7 meters long. Despite the name, it can swim hundreds of kilometers out at sea, and its bite force — around 1.7 to 1.8 tonnes — is considered the strongest of any living animal.
10
チンパンジーchinpanjī
A primate that shares roughly 98.7% of its DNA with humans. Chimpanzees are known for tool use — fishing for ants with sticks, cracking nuts with stones — and even produce a breathy, panting "laugh" when happy.
11
カンガルーkangarū
The name almost certainly comes from gangurru, a word for a specific gray kangaroo species in the Guugu Yimithirr language of Queensland, Australia. The popular story that it actually means "I don't understand you" — supposedly the answer an Aboriginal Australian gave a confused explorer — is a well-known myth with no real evidence behind it.
12
クチビログマkuchibiru-guma
The sloth bear of South Asia, whose name means "lip bear" in Japanese for its long, flexible lips. It tears open termite mounds with powerful claws, then hoovers up the insects with a strong, vacuum-like suction — and unlike most bears, its diet leans heavily on fruit and insects over meat.