The Semi Evil Ones

I haven't slept in five days.  I think I may not sleep again for months.  The night walkers (and night flyers) are turning me into a zombie.

The semi (蝉) are fully evil.

In many parts of the United States, we are quite familiar with the summer sounds of the cicada.  Many species of locust thrive during the summer, including cicada, grasshoppers, katydids, etc.  Growing up, I would enjoy listening to the song of the katydids and the crickets night after night while camping in the woods of eastern Pennsylvania.  Upon arriving in late Spring in Japan, I expected to eventually hear these typical sounds of summer, and was assured that they were on the way.  Once they started about two weeks ago, it began to truly feel like summer, even though the rainy season (梅雨: tsuyu) had not yet run its course.  However, I was surprised to learn that the semi sleep at night in Japan, singing only in daylight (at least for the first two weeks).  The night silence was almost unnerving after hearing the daytime cacophony.  I was amused to find that I could close my eyes and know when I walked beneath street lights solely based on the volume of the semi (by the way, this is not a good idea, because the sound of the semi can sometimes overwhelm the sounds of approaching cars: 車).  Presumably the poor creatures nearest the lights were kept awake all night by these human conveniences.  Little did I know that they would soon have their revenge.

蝉(semi)  struggling (or plotting) after a heavy rainfall.

My first clue that semi are evil was revealed when I noted that one of their typical calls sounded eerily like laughter: "Waaa waaa waaa waaa waaaaaaaa."  Another sounds exactly like the sounds of the generic "we're all going to die" alarm from many movies and computer games: "Waaaa Ooooo Waaaa Ooooo Waaaa Ooooo."  But the final (at least I hope so) revelation was this past weekend, when every morning, at the crack of dawn (that would be about half an hour before sunrise, so nautical twilight), the semi outside my window broke into their song.  I've slept through several earthquakes already during my time in Japan; but there is no sleeping through this Devil's choir that could easily wake the dead.

At night now, instead of sleeping, they take turns attacking my window, seemingly probing it for weaknesses.  They seem to be smart enough (unfortunately) to avoid splattering all over the glass.  Instead, they seem to take joy in either ricocheting off of the screen, or making an unholy racket while attempting to alight (make that a-heavy) upon it.  Several times, I have been dive-bombed by semi while walking.  I'm beginning to wonder if I ought to invest in a motorcycle helmet in anticipation of my first cyclist-semi collision.  Though they may have faces that only a mother could love; given the right circumstances, they can be quite beautiful.  For example the fellow above, struggling amid a recent shower.