Research has uncovered a fascinating insect-eating tradition in certain parts of Japan’s Tohoku region, where dragonflies have been consumed for both their delicacy and medicinal properties.
Shuji Watanabe, a senior curator at the Iwate Prefectural Museum, conducted a field report that reveals the long-standing practice of eating dragonflies by locals in Iwate and Akita prefectures.
Ryohei Sugahara, an associate professor specializing in human entomophagy (the consumption of insects), described Watanabe’s report as “intriguing” due to the rarity of consuming adult dragonflies.
One woman in her 70s from Kunohe village, Iwate Prefecture, recalled her childhood days when she ate dragonflies with friends. She explained that they were told it was good for their health because dragonflies were considered gods.
“We would catch dragonflies while playing near mountains or rivers after school. We would eat them by pulling off their wings. It wasn’t strange to us because we also ate wild edible fruits like chocolate vines and freshwater crabs,” she reminisced.
Watanabe discovered that people would pluck dragonflies out of midflight using their hands before consuming them by sucking on the de-winged bodies.
A woman from Odate, Akita, shared her experience of eating a dragonfly during middle school. She described how she opened its chest by pulling on both sides near its wings and then sucked out the insides. Although she couldn’t recall the taste precisely, she compared it to sashimi chicken tender.
Sugahara speculated that this woman likely consumed the flight muscles as more of a snack rather than a substantial meal.
Watanabe first heard about this practice from a colleague several years ago and began interviewing local residents in 2020. Over three and a half years, he documented five cases in Iwate and one case in Akita spanning from the 1950s to the 2000s.
Further research conducted by Watanabe revealed historical evidence indicating that ancient Japanese communities used red dragonflies as medicine. They would burn them and turn them into powder to act as cough suppressants for children specifically within Iwate Prefecture.
While there is evidence of consuming dragonfly larvae, there had been no previous documentation regarding raw consumption of adult specimens according to Watanabe’s findings.
The tradition of eating dragonflies primarily involved species such as Sympetrum infuscatum and Sympetrum frequens found throughout various regions in Japan.
According to Watanabe’s observations, Dragonfly larvae are rich sources of protein while adult specimens contain various minerals like calcium. He suggests that since they were used medicinally, children may not have hesitated to consume them regularly.