Catching the same cicada can be perfectly ordinary in one place and prohibited just a short distance away. In Japan, insect collecting is not banned nationwide. Whether you may collect an insect depends on where you are and what kind of insect it is.
It is still common to see children putting cicadas, grasshoppers, or rhinoceros beetles into insect cages. Catching a few insects in an ordinary park or nearby woodland is often seen as a traditional childhood activity.
But being in a park does not automatically mean you can collect anything you find. Some areas inside national and quasi-national parks prohibit the capture of insects and other wildlife. Cities, towns, and individual parks may also have their own rules. And if the land is privately owned, you cannot simply enter it to look for insects without permission.
The species also matters. Some insects are protected because their numbers are low, and catching them may be prohibited by law. In that case, even if other insects may be collected in the same area, the protected species must be left alone. “It is only one” does not make it acceptable.
There can also be a gap between the official rule and how people react in everyday life. If a sign says not to collect wildlife, the rule applies to both children and adults. Even so, people may react differently to a child catching a single cicada than to an adult deliberately collecting insects there. Some people may be inclined to let it pass as ordinary childhood insect collecting.
And even where collecting is allowed, that does not mean taking as many as you want feels acceptable. An adult carrying away dozens of rhinoceros beetles would strike many people as going beyond normal insect collecting. If the insect is unusual or rare, even taking one may feel wrong.
Insect collecting is still a familiar part of childhood in Japan, but that does not make it acceptable everywhere. The rules can change from one place to another, and the insect itself may also be protected. Before collecting anything, you need to check both whether insect collecting is allowed there and whether you are allowed to catch that particular insect.
