Cockroaches? myth or reality

Hi Everyone,

Next week, my boyfriend is moving to Tokyo for three months on a work assignment. I will be visiting him for a month this summer (specifically mid july to mid august) and I have an amazing insect phobia.

Are Tokyo apartments as cockroach saturated as they are made out to be?

We are staying in a Sakura House apartment on the top floor of a 4 floor low rise building. From the photos, it looks quite clean. I know roaches are attracted to head and humidity, and I know the apartment has air conditioning. Does this make a difference?

Please let me know so I can spend the next couple of months bracing myself!

I have never thought of Tokyo as having a particular cockroach problem. In my experience cockroaches are mainly attracted by left-out food and garbage, so if the apartment block is kept clean (the kitchen in particular) it shouldn't be an issue. Older wooden buidings may have more of a roach problem just because it is easier for them to get in and out. Modern concrete buildings are less prone to infestation.

If you really hate cockroaches, my advice in Tokyo would be to avoid the garbage piles waiting for pick up on street corners, and avoid the side streets behind restaurants, but otherwise I don't think Tokyo is particularly roach-infested, as the garbage is collected regularly and people don't tend to drop food on the streets. I've seen plenty more roaches elsewhere in Asia (Hong Kong etc) and even Australia.

I lived in a pretty crappy apartment whilst in Japan.

Not a lot of cockroaches - don't know where u heard that from.

That sounds more like Malaysia or China (even worst than Hong Kong by 10 folds).

If roaches are your only problem, I wouldn't worry too much about it. I'm originally from Tokyo and have lived in cockroach-free L.A., but tons of locals with amazing insect phobia manage to live with it in Tokyo (I've even heard of worse stories from NY).

On the other hand, I would worry more about mosquitoes since you're coming in mid summer. Of course, plants would attract a lot of butterflies and larva, but that's about the same as L.A.

In any case, you can start telling your boyfriend to take good care of his garbage, and to stock up a good insecticide spray just for you.

I live in Toronto so as far as mosquitos and their ilk are concerned, I think I'll be ok. I tend to freak out about large, creepy, sneaky insects ie. roaches, spiders, beetles etc.

*shudder*

mosquitos in Tokyo are not a problem for the average sightseer.

Rhi,
I do spot a lot of spiders every day, but they're tiny and harmless. I only saw less than 3 roaches a year inside the apartments I've lived in myself in Tokyo area.

815,
You're kidding me. I wish I were a sightseer in Tokyo, because I still had no luck as a sightseer in Barcelona and Bangkok.

I live in a Sakura House apartment in Itabashi, there aren't any roaches :)

Roaches? Wow i never heard that myth b4......i've heard more stories about Giant Hornets in Japan....

are you kidding? google Tokyo and cockroaches and you won't believe how much info you'll find. Even on this forum, type in Cockroaches into the search bar...anyhow, bugs aside, I am really excited for my trip :)

Uco, do you know how much would the journey costs from Roppongi to Shikinijima? including all trains and the ferry?

(1) Rhi, you should start a new thread for your cost query.

(2) You may see huge flying roaches out in the rural and semi-rural areas. The New York style "German" cockroaches, while smaller, are somehow more revolting. They're typically the ones that infest cities and that can be somewhat controlled by good garbage hygeine. (Not that humans will ever have the definitive upper hand in the human vs. cockroach battle.)

flying cockroaches? that is so disgusting :P

i shall start a new thread.

cheers :)

Giant "Goliath Beatles" are something of a current (expensive) pet craze...the bigger and uglier, the better. But they're generally kept in terrariums. Maybe this is what you're hearing about.

that is the truth! there are cockroaches everywhere but they might not be seen. if you have on your air conditioner most of the time they won't come out but it will get to be pretty expensive. what's worse in osaka and the kansai region where it's even hotter and more humid than the kanto area, the roaches are so big they call them water bugs AND they fly! they are the main reason why i hate japanese summers!

Yea Hornets Rhi, you know, the flying little things that sting ppl....-.-

LMAO!
Look it up, Japanese-Hornets are huge, and deadly if pervoked.......Don't know how much actually show up in Tokyo, but i've heard tons of stories about them in Japan.....

I like to be informed on nature and things like that so i actually watch the NG channel (National Geographic, ^^) alot...hahaha.....


xP
-IzAnAmI

dude, I know what hornets are...I just choose not to acknowledge their existence in my day to day life so as not to give my self a heart attack :P When I say I'm scared of large insects..I mean so much so that the thought of being near one makes me feel ill...thus National Geographic channel is not always my #1 choice when sitting down to watch TV :P

However i have convinced my boyfriend that stocking up on Raid will guarantee that our time in Japan will be a success...you know...because I won't be running aorund Tokyo in a hysterical frenzy...or will I?

I keyed in Tokyo and Cockroaches in Google and unlike what the poster said, there are hardly any relevant results.

I think you're just overreacting..

If you type any other city or country's name with cockroaches instead, the returns go up exponential..


The truth is, there are that many cockroaches in Japan, compared to the asian countries I've visited.

Especially Malaysia and China... :(

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=219995

http://www.crisscross.com/jp/forum/m_466029/printable.htm

http://www.cog.jhu.edu/grad-students/nicol/Journals/2003/07-02-03.html

http://www.japan-guide.com/forum/quereadisplay.html?0+22285

http://www.tamegoeswild.com/thedailymumble/2005/06.htm

I don't think any of the links you just posted could exactly be described as reliable sources of information - more like ill-informed net chatter. And the one thing that seemed to be a serious news story about a plague of cockroaches was actually a mistranslation of aphids. Seriously, unless you are in very grungy accommodation there is nothing to worry about here.

Oh, and I've never seen a hornet in a decade of living in Tokyo. They're a countryside thing, and even then not a big issue.