This is Megan Greene with another Postcard from Asia from the KU Center for East Asian Studies.

It’s New Year in Japan which means…it’s time to sing about fireflies. The song Hotaru no Hikari (HOE TAH ROO no HEE KAH REE) or light of the fireflies is as well known and beloved as Auld Lang Syne is in the West; in fact, it’s sung to the same tune. The Japanese: firefly connection goes back to the 8th Century when poets used them to represent human passions. But pollution and development have depleted the number of fireflies. So what’s a New Year’s reveler to do? Buy Denshi Hotaru, (DEN SHEE HOE TAH ROO) life-sized, electronic lightning bugs housed in the traditional bamboo cage. All you need’s a couple of double A batteries and the flick of a switch. Oh yeah. And eighty dollars. Happy New Year.

With thanks to Mindy Varner for this text, from the KU Center for East Asian Studies, I’m Megan Greene. Wish you were here.