Fireflies in Kurate Town, Kyushu by Fukuoka City native J-マッチ
I just realized we haven’t gone out to any of the popular sites here in Ibaraki this winter to view some night illumination. Probably because of the cold.
Looking at these photos of fireflies illuminating a shrine in Kurate Town in Kyushu makes me long for the warmer weather of late spring, although I’m not aware of any forests or marshes around Tsukuba near bodies of water where fireflies are usually found.
From J-マッチ’s blog:
I heard that Hime fireflies live at the foot of Mt. Tsurugi in Kurate Town, Fukuoka Prefecture, so I went there right away. The habitat of the fireflies is still not very well known, and it seems that their presence here was only confirmed six years ago. Even so, there were a lot of photographers there.
There is a parking lot, and the street lights are turned off when the fireflies are flying.
However, this place also does not have the capacity to accommodate that many people, so if it becomes popular, the light from car headlights will likely make it difficult to enjoy watching the fireflies.
Hotaru (firefly) is normally written as 蛍, a kanji much more common in combinations such as 蛍光ペン (keikō pen highlighter pen) and 蛍光灯 (keikōtō flourescent lamp).
On the other hand, the hotaru in Studio Ghibli’s Hotaru no Haka (Grave of Fireflies) is instead written as 火垂る ((insect that) drips with fire), interpreted by some as the bombs that rain down the skies during the firebombing of Japan in World War II.
Also, even earlier than 蛍 is 螢, two fire kanji on top of insect (虫 mushi).
But I digress.
It’s been decades since I’ve seen fireflies in the wild and their population is reportedly declining from habitat loss and light pollution (that makes it harder for them to find each other).
More from J-マッチsan:
Genji fireflies emit light for a long time, so when you photograph them, the light trails form lines, but Hime fireflies emit light at short intervals, so the light trails become dots.
Photographing Hime fireflies is much more difficult than Genji fireflies. Hime fireflies are about half the size of Genji fireflies, and it is said that their light is only 1/4 as bright.
I don’t have a fast lens, so I tried shooting with an f4 lens, but I raised the shutter speed to 30 seconds and the ISO sensitivity to 12800. Even so, I could barely capture the background.
Generally, fireflies fly around the river, so you can see the surroundings to some extent, but Hime fireflies shine in the bushes, so it is really pitch black and you can’t see anything except the flashing light.
Fireflies in Kurate Town, Kyushu by Fukuoka City native J-マッチ