Yes, spring is definitely in the air in Japan and soon the country will be awash in a sea of pink and white cherry blossoms.

But there is also a dark side of spring up here in the northern reaches of the Kanto Plain. A noxious scourge that hides in your pockets and sleeps in your sleeves, waiting for you to insert your hand before it strikes. One of the most obnoxious insects every created – the kame-mushi, or stink bug.

I was born and raised in the city, and before moving up out to the northern Kanto Plain, I lived in Tokyo, where all the other species that make up the natural world are either already dead or dying. Because of this, I did not even know what a kame-mushi was.

The first time a saw one of the friendly looking, beetle-like creatures, I grabbed it with my hand, intending to throw it out the window. What a mistake! Soon the air was permeated by one of the most disgusting smells ever to assault my olfactory glands. I threw it down, but the smell did not go away. I washed my hands, but could still smell the odor under the sweet fragrance of the soap.

Kame-mushi seem to be fond of the darkness of a nice, deep pocket, the sleeve of a coat, or the inside of a sweater. Then when you stick your hand into your pocket or put on your sweater, the bug reacts and you start smelling like the south end of a horse going north. This has happened to me on more than one occasion.

I found out that kame-mushi emit a noxious liquid when startled. They even have the ability to shower you with stink bombs as they fly by. This makes dealing with them a definite problem. After my first encounter with one, I tried grabbing one with a piece of tissue paper, which I wadded up and threw into the wastebasket. The kame-mushi simply kept emitting more and more of its stink until I finally gave up, pulled the tissue from the trash, and threw the bug out the window.

Finally a Japanese friend taught me a great way to deal with kame-mushi.

1. Take a square of highly adhesive tape. If the glue is too weak, your victim will escape.
2. Touch the tape to the back of the kame-mushi so it sticks.
3. Fold the tape over.
4. Seal the tape around the insect, so the smell cannot get out.
5. Throw the sealed tape into the trash.

Though this method may sound a bit cruel, it works like a charm!