The importance of playing in the woods

This morning, a typhoon reached Kushihara, a day later than originally expected. In practice, this meant that daylight came with heavy rains, strong winds, rattling windows and the collapse of my chinese cabbage tunnel. It also meant that in theory, there was little reason to go to the forest and search for hebo at 6am. But there's something about strong winds and heavy rains that's difficult to resist, so I put on my waterproof and wellies and went to the forest anyway. The trees here are all roughly the same size, so when a gust of wind blows, they all move as one. I can't imagine a better start to the day.

This reminded me of another recent early morning trip to the forest - a trip that reminded me of the importance of playing in the woods, no matter how grown up and sensible you might aspire to be. This happened about a month ago now, when Professors Jun Mitsuhashi and Victor Beno Meyer-Rochow came to visit Kushihara. We held a lecture session which culminated in insect dissection and insect tasting - yes, at the same time! - and the next morning we went to the forest to look for hebo. 

While looking for hebo, we came across a variety of other insects. Here are a few photos: 

But what the photos dont show is the childlike enthusiasm behind the collection of these insects! Swinging a net at a nosediving dragonfly, dropping to all fours to grab at a hopping cricket, moving stealthily closer to pinch the wings of a hornet. It's hard to do these things without a lot of laughter, and the end result is always fascinating - being able to see tiny, fast-moving creatures at such a close range.

Professor Mitsuhashi has been doing this for over 75 years, and I can't see him ever getting bored of it. Sometimes, thinking about the future - getting old, progressing along some kind of career path - is a bit unsettling. But if its possible to reach the age of 80 and still play in the woods with all the genuine enjoyment of an 8 year old, then thinking about it is not unsettling in the least. 

(Professor Mitsuhashi is the author of [世界昆虫食大全], a brilliantly informative, concisely written but comprehensive book on global entomophagy, which my professor has previously referred to as the 'bible of entomophagy'. To my knowledge there is nothing like this published in English. Photos above and left show Professor Mitsuhashi dissecting a caterpillar.)