Yamaguchi-cho has its own website,
and here’s a table showing the results of daily on-site surveys carried out over several hours after sunset by Mitsunobu Honda, chairperson of the Yamaguchi/Funasaka School District Youth Protection Council.↓
From Yamaguchi-cho website Breaking Update: Firefly Sightings
Sure enough, there were 538 on June 4!I wonder how they counted them….
Comments are posted every day, too!
From Yamaguchi-cho website Breaking Update: Firefly Sightings
It makes you want to meet Mr. Honda and find out what kind of person he is (*^^)v
We previously introduced the fireflies at the Landslide Museum in Nigawa, but the numbers are completely different!
In Yamaguchi-cho, firefly conservation activities have been carried out since around 1996.
To create a better breeding environment for fireflies, the mercury lamps along the Arimagawa Greenway are turned off from late May to early July,
weed clearing along the river is postponed until the season when fireflies are not flying,
the number of fireflies is recorded, and patrols are carried out to prevent accidents and catching,
and posters made by children from Yamaguchi Elementary School, Funasaka Elementary School, and Kita-Rokkodai Elementary School are also displayed.
It looks like this↓(photo taken in June 2019)
The Ecology of Fireflies in Yamaguchi-cho has a detailed write-up about fireflies!
You can really learn a lot about how fireflies grow, what they eat, and more (*^^)v
◇Firefly flashing intervals☛Fireflies in western Japan are impatient
- Kanto and farther north: 4 seconds. Kansai and farther west: 2 seconds. (Fireflies in western Japan are impatient.)
- Some parts of the Chubu region: 3 seconds
It’s funny that in Kansai, even the fireflies are impatient, not just the people !(^^)!
Viewing Etiquette
・Do not catch the fireflies!! Fireflies have short lives. Enjoy watching them in nature.
・Do not shine flashlights or phone lights at the fireflies, and do not use camera flash.
・Do not park on the road or make loud noises.
☆For firefly viewing, the Sakurayamanami Bus stops at Kinsenguchiguchi, Kamiyamaguchi, Yamaguchi Center-mae, and Shimoyamaguchi are convenient. Timetables and more are here
In Closing
We’re truly grateful to Mr. Honda and everyone in the community who carry out the conservation work and daily surveys (*^^)v
We’ll keep sharing the charms of Nishinomiya, a city full of rich nature (*^^)v
On the day I wrote this article, I couldn’t stop thinking about that number, 538, so I went to Yamaguchi-cho to see the fireflies!
This was the best I could do in a photo (and with a phone camera, too)… But in person, it was much, much more magical and beautiful (*^_^*)
A boy standing nearby said, “Fireflies have batteries inside them,” and everyone around him broke into smiles〜
Please, even if a firefly flies over to you, don’t catch it…
A firefly that flew into the nearby grass was glowing so brightly (*^_^*)
