Beetle mania
Many children are infected by beetle mania during the summer holidays, hunting in the nation’s parks armed with insect nets and green plastic cages. This summer adult fans can take their passion for these six-legged critters to even greater lengths by purchasing their very own pair of Micro Stag Beetles for a whopping ¥10,000. Smaller than a grain of rice, these miniaturized plastic male and female models are only 2.6 mm long. Though models are incredibly detailed and stand up to scrutiny under a microscope, you may be asking yourself what a sane adult would prize such an item. (Via Tokyo Walker.)
The real live stag beetles, with their powerful front mandibles, are particularly suited to exciting insect fights and a large one might even set you back as much as ¥7,500 from an online dealer. There are many Web sites devoted to insect fights, such as Japanese Bug Fights in English and World’s Strongest Insect King Playoffs in Japanese.