A night of Fireflies and Romance

Japanese people seem to have a penchant for fleeting ethereal beauty.




Fireflies have a special significance in Japan. Their their fleeting lives and their illuminating presence light up the night in a spectacle for all to see. Indeed, in Japan there are firefly evens where a thousand fireflies are released and rise up into the night like hundreds of blinking stars. Of course there are natural fireflies too, but there just simply aren't enough of them for hundreds of people to enjoy at once.
Fireflies are special for a reason that I was entirely clueless to before moving to Japan. Fireflies will only inhabit clean water. Well I suppose the first fact I was clueless to was the fact that fireflies like water. I have always lived around water and have always seen fireflies in the spring and therefore took it for granted that fireflies are not in fact everywhere. But secondly and more importantly, fireflies will only populate areas with sources of clean, unpolluted water. It is essential for their continuation, as their larvae need it to survive.
Fireflies are more prone to warm and humid climates and therefore are more dominant in the south of Japan. Here we will have minor festivals in Osaka and Kyoto where fireflies will be released for the enjoyment of hundreds of visitors, which also serves to help repopulate the fireflies in these select areas. I must say that this feat is a bit better suited for Kyoto as there are a number of clean water sources present there. I think the best of all is the Philosophers Path with a steady steam coming in from Lake Biwa. There is...not exactly an abundance, but a good amount of natural fireflies to be seen here. Other places are the Shimogamo and Kamigamo shrines. The Shimogamo shrine, in particular, is one such place that releases the fireflies to all to see. Another such area is in Osaka at the Sky Building, at the floating garden. I have to think, though I have no witnessed, that Harie must be the very best place to see fireflies, with their special underground cistern from which the cleanest and clearest water from all of Japan flows. So if you are looking for a site you should visit one of these select places on a warm night when mosquitoes are bound to be buzzing about!