Eight Legged Freaks

As yet, I have not had any problems with bugs or insects since Ive got here. From what I can tell its all the usual stuff just bigger. The ants, spiders and butterflys are huuuuge. This thing you can see below nearly attacked me near a shrine in Nara. It was so huge I could see it breathing and I could look it right in the eyes.... It starred me down, and it took all I had in me to not scream. I had to sit down for 10 minutes afterwards.

Today in Kyoto I noticed a ant going round and round in a tiny circle. I bent down to look and I could swear it stopped, looked up, and gave me the finger. Having trod on him I crossed the nearby bridge and spotted a Japanese man feeding turtles and promptly climbed all over him to get a good photo, like any good tourist would.

Having annoyed the locals, I found a bench to eat my sushi (which by the way was amazing - ham and crab!) and noticed this little guy on the ground. Having dodged the feet of a seemingly endless parade of 13 year old Japanese school children (who would not stop saying hello to me), the poor creature had to endure a flash from a camera from about 5cm away, which to him must have been like a thermonuclear explosion. Good picture though.

This is for my mother. Stick that in your bird-watching pipe and smoke it!