My first ever visit at a stunning insect museum in Japan

The giant stag beetle at the facade was ubiquitous and it caught my attention as our group of bloggers went up the building for our lunch. Because the characters written were all in Japanese, I had to ask our guide what that insect represented and was told that it was an insect museum. Wow! An insect museum! And that lit up my eyes!

As you might or might not know, I’m a bit of a geek and have been collecting, first butterflies, which I sold many years ago and beetles, 5,000 plus specimens with many new species named after me or were named as new to Science. You can check out my online collection at SALAGUBANG.

I hurriedly finished my lunch and separated myself from the group. After paying the 600 yen entrance fee, I was inside. The first thing that I saw was these really stunning frames that were very colorful and glistening. These were lepido-mosaics, mosaics made from the wings of thousands of butterflies. It was just so marvelous to look at. Because time was quite short, I had to hasten my visit and went to the different parts of the museum housed in two floors.

I was just so in awe! There were hundreds and thousands of butterflies and beetles and other insect species inside the museum which were collected in Southeast Asia, Japan, the Americas, Europe and Africa. Of course, I was looking for species from the Philippines and were not disappointed.

As I walked around, I can only do so in wide eyed amazement. Several of the butterfly and beetle species, especially those outside of the Philippines. Those that were only familiar to me in name or in pictures came to life in that museum. I was hearing myself saying WOWs and OHHs and AHHs… From the biggest butterflies, to the most colorful. From the longest horned beetle to the beautifully shining metallic.

And the mosaics! Stunning art work and colorful displays that when viewed from afar looked like abstract works but when I looked closer, were actually assembled butterflies and beetles! For my first ever insect museum visit? I was so much surprised, entertained and amazed! Beautiful critters of the world!

Insect Collection of the World
Hida Takayama Matsuri-no-mori
Chishima-cho 1111, Takayama-shi
Gifu　506-0032
TEL (0577)37-1000　FAX (0577)37-1010
Opening hours 9:00～17:00
Museum entrance fee: 600 Yen (adult), 400 Yen (students)

All images taken with LG G3

Thanx to Cebu Pacific Air for this trip!

Cebu Pacific Air, the leading airline in the Philippines, flies between Manila and Nagoya (Chubu Centrair International Airport) every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. Ongoing all-in seat sale fares start from P6,388, for travel from December 17, 2015 to March 31, 2016. Book your flights through the CebuPacificAir.com. For updates and seat sale announcements, check outwww.facebook.com/cebupacificair.