Woods Hole Film Festival 2009

Imagine cramming 128 million people onto an island the size of Montana – you would be pretty close to replicating the density of Japan. Not surprisingly, space is at a premium and ergonomic design is next to godliness. Yet, even in Tokyo, the pinnacle of this figurative “can of sardines,” people of all ages still make room for a little bit of wilderness. It is only fitting that they have become captivated by nature’s most efficient invention in space, design and function – insects. Sold live in vending machines and department stores; plastic replicas included as prizes in the equivalent of a McDonald’s Happy Meal; the subject of the No.1 videogame MushiKing; and from the smallest backyard to the top of Mt. Fuji, insects inspire an enthusiasm in Japan seen nowhere else in this world. “Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo” explores the mystery of why Japan developed this unique enriching social relationship with insects. Working backward like a detective story, the film unlocks the mystery behind Japan’s love affair with insects. First stop is modern Japan where a single beetle recently sold for $90,000. From there we are transported to the Edo period and the consequent explosion of nature in art and war. Peering back to the early 1800s, the first cricket selling business and the development of haiku and other forms of insect literature are revealed. The historical adventure travels all the way back to the 8th century and the stories of Emperor Jimmu who named Japan the “Isle of the Dragonflies.” Along the way the film takes side trips to Zen temples and Buddhist Shrines, nature preserves and art museums in its quest for the inspirations that sent Japan in this direction while other cultures hurtled off towards an almost universal and profound fear of insects. Interspersed with the philosophies of one of Japan’s best-selling authors and anatomist, Dr. Takeshi Yoro, and scattered with poetry and art from Japan’s history, this film becomes about much more than insects. The film quietly challenges the viewer to observe the world from an uncommon perspective that will shift the familiar to the fantastic and just might change not only the way we think about bugs, but the way we think about life.