ROACHES
My first night in Japan, I decided to take a shower - only to discover that a room full or roaches also
wanted to join me!  The larger ones were about the size of my thumb, and they can fly.  Killing them with
a telehone book is really yucky - I do not recommend it, and you only get one because the rest of
them run.  After a lot of screaming and swearing, I got out a bottle of bleach and went to work on the
bathroom.  The following information, I got from Andrea Paparnik, and I followed it.  I did not totally get
rid of all the roaches, but I was able to control the population.
Preventative measures:
Supposedly, roaches will bypass the clean homes to go to more easy access messy homes.  Keeping a
clean place will lessen your chances of getting them.  They like food and water.  Clean the drain in you
shower room so that your hair is not clogging the drain and providing a swimming pool for the roaches.
Wipe down your sinks and any excess water in the shower room.  Wipe down everything that food or
liquid has touched.  Seal food tightly - use clips, twist ties and plastic containers.  I cannot say this
enough.  I found roaches in a box of cereal where the plastic bag inside had not been sealed.  Food
products that you throw away should be tied up in a bag, or else the roaches will go into your garbage
for a buffet.
Before the warm weather hits, it is a good idea to sweep and dust, and, then mop and bleach your walls
and floors.  Sounds like a lot of work, but its a lot harder to rid yourself of roachies once you get them.

Getting rid of them:
This is very difficult.  You do not need to read Japanese to figure out what to buy - they have pictures
of roaches on the box.
There are sticky paper houses that you can use, but as soon as you get a few roaches you need to
throw it away or else more will come - attracted by the smell of their dead friends.
There are posion food traps, which are supposed to be good at killing them if you have a lot, but I have
been told that the smell of the food - although posioned - still attracts them.
There are sprays you can kill them with, but let me tell you, it take a whole lot of spraying to take them
out.  As well, they are very fast - so make sure you have your eye on just one and do your best to
take it out - you do not want the roach to become immune to the spray and then make a million babies
that are too.
*Interesting fact* Did you know that a roach is still able to live 7 days after its head has been taken off.
  Go figure who did that study.
There are also "Gokiburi dango".  The home-making club at my school makes them. They are small round
cookies - do not eat them - that are supposed to have a smell that keeps roaches away.
 
 
Centipedes
Centipedes in Japan are dangerous.  They are called mukade in Japanese.  They have a potent posion.
Sometimes you can find them in your apartment. They are about 2 to 4 inches big with tons of legs.
I say kill them with a fat telephone book, but it is your ethical decision about what to do with them.
If you do get bitten by one, it is recommended to go to the hospital right away because some people have
serious allergic reactions to the bite.