カブちゃん

About two months ago we bought a pet 甲虫 (Rhinoceros Beetle). We call him 「カブちゃん」 (Kabu-chan)…he was given this name because “Rhinoceros Beetle” is Kabuto-mushi in Japanese (and the suffix chan is often added to nicknames (usually girls)…kun is usually used for young boys. There are cases where chan is OK for a boy’s nickname…so, although our beetle’s male, he’s “Kabu-chan” because “Kabu-kun” is odd. (Maybe that’s confusing if you don’t understand Japanese culture!?)).

Anyways, we often buy (or sometimes catch) 甲虫 (Rhinoceros Beetles) every Summer…because, like most Japanese kids, my kids like 甲虫 (Rhinoceros Beetles). They are a popular pet in Japan in the summertime. The オス (males ♂) are especially popular (and more expensive) because they have long horns…and they fight each other (for the メス (females ♀)).

Japanese boys like to watch the male beetles fight each other. There’s even a game in Japan about fighting beetles (called 「むしキング」 (Mushi King)) that young boys like.

The life span of 甲虫 (Rhinoceros Beetle) isn’t very long. Less than half a year (late Spring until early Autumn). So our 「カブちゃん」 (Kabu-chan) probably won’t be with us much longer 😦
So, today I was holding him and he walked up my arm up to my back. For an old guy, he’s still pretty 元気 (energetic)!

While the beetle was walking on me, my wife took a few photos of him: