Japan - Killer Hornets
August 2003 - 09 min 12 sec
Field of flowers in Japanese countryside
Music
16:00
SIMKIN: In the valleys of Nagano, ancient Japanese traditions remain strong.
17:08
Koi in pond
Music
Hornet hunters
SIMKIN: It is here that Yoichiro Tateishi and his hornet hunters go about their work. They are searching for Japan's deadliest creature. A nest full of the monsters has been discovered in a nearby backyard. Everyone within 30 metres has to wear protection.
Music
16:20
Hornet hunters suit up
SIMKIN: The hornets are smoked out of their hole and the fund begins, they're captured one by one.
Music
16:48
YOICHIRO TATEISHI: There are not many hornets yet. In the coming weeks, they will grow much bigger and become more numerous. But right now, this is the situation.
17:01
Hornet hunters
SIMKIN: These men aren't even being paid for their labour, they're doing it because they're obsessed with hornets and because they get to take their work home with them.
17:14
Tateishi cuts open hornet's nest
The nest is taken back to Tateishi-san's house, where a band of happy helpers has gathered. Adult hornets are put in one pile, the immature ones in another and this morsel, well it goes somewhere else entirely.
17:34
YOICHIRO TATEISHI: This is a queen, it's delicious. It is very sweet.
Tateishi cooks hornets
SIMKIN: This isn't a scientific exercise, it's a culinary one and it turns out there's more than one way to cook a killer hornet. Catching and eating hornets dates back hundreds of years to the days when protein was scarce. No matter that the creatures contain deadly poison, that only adds to the challenge and flavour.
18:01
Simkin with Tateishi
SIMKIN: To feed his fascination and stomach, Tateishi san has begun breeding killer hornets. He keeps seven nests in his house. Empty nests are kept as ornaments.
YOICHIRO TATEISHI: I should be called a hornet freak.
18:30
Tateishi
I have had a long relationship with them, ever since my childhood. I think eating them was the starting point, and because they are delicious, I have maintained my interest. As well, I enjoy braving danger and pain.
18:48
Misao Inoue at shrine
SIMKIN: Misao Inoue knows that better than most. Last year, her husband was picking mushrooms in the Nagano countryside when he stumbled across a hornet nest. The 61 year old was stung twice and was dead within a few hours.
MISAO INOUE: When he returned home,
19:13
Misao
he was bleeding from here and this part had turned purple. I had assumed this was the cause of his death, but he actually died from the one hornet sting on his shoulder.
19:32
Misao Inoue at shrine
SIMKIN: Inoue-san refuses to blame the insect for what it did. She says the hornets and the Japanese people have a special bond.
MISAO INOUE: The main similarity between us and the hornets
20:01
Misao
is the crowd mentality. Japanese people like to work as a group, and it's the same with hornets.
20:14
Hornets' nests in museum
Music
20:33
SIMKIN: Teteishi the hornet hunter isn't only Nagano local who collects hornet homes. On the other side of town there's a museum full of them. These pieces are considered highly artistic. The hornets did need some help and they got it from this man.
20:37
Simkin and Asakazu at museum
ASAKAZU TOMINAGA: This was used in the Winter Olympics. It was displayed at a government office in Nagano. Mr. Samaranch and other officials were greatly impressed by it.
21:02
Asakazu and Simkin visit workshop
SIMKIN: Asakazu Tominaga showed us his workshop. The master is in the process of turning these nests into a giant rabbit.
21:14
ASAKAZU TOMINAGA: If you come closer to them, it will be dangerous because there are lots of hornets; there are about 40,000 of them.
21:32
SIMKIN: Tominaga san says he shapes the nest by telling the hornets where to go.
21:42
ASAKAZU TOMINAGA: They are like cute children to me. I can communicate with them for the most part because I know their habits. I know if they're angry when they are making a noise -- or whether they're in a good mood, and laughing.
21:48
SIMKIN: Unfortunately, just as the masterpiece was taking shape, our cameraman, Jun Matsuzono, ignored the advice about getting too close. His protective suit and preventive medicine proved useless.
22:07
JUN MATSUZONO: Ouch, the pain! Ouch, I am stung!
22:20
Jun in hospital
SIMKIN: Jun survived, but had to spend time in hospital. My amateur camera work was also pretty crook.
22:27
JUN MATSUZONO: It's very, very dangerous. It's so big pain. It's so dangerous.
Asakazu sprays nest
SIMKIN: A few days later with Jun up and about but very tender, Tominaga-san vowed to repair the damage with a special potion. He set about collecting the key ingredient. The insects, subdued but still alive, were taken to a nearby brewery. Tominaga san concocted a brew that makes the worm in a tequila bottle seem positively pathetic: hornet sake.
22:50
Simkin drinks sake
SIMKIN: Kampai! Oh it's very strong, isn't it? Extremely strong!
23:18
The sake isn't the only hornet beverage to have a big impact on those who consume it. There's a rival product that's modern, rather than traditional.
23:32
Advertisement showing Naoko
Naoko Takahashi is Japan's most famous athlete. She won the Sydney Olympic marathon. The secret of her success: Takahashi san gulps own hornet saliva before every race. Each day killer hornets fly the equivalent of two marathons at 30 kilometres an hour. It turns out the source of their energy is their spit and so the saliva has been turned into a sports drink. The hornet juice is creating a huge buzz. It's flooded the Japanese gym scene and many of the country's top athletes have started drinking it.
23:46
Women in gym
WOMAN: When I consume Vaam, I have no trouble exercising. It has become a necessity for me.
24:29
WOMAN 2: I have an image of hornets as creatures that are small, but work very hard. I would like to be able to work hard like the hornets do.
24:36
Hornets
Music
SIMKIN: It's been a remarkable rehabilitation. Anywhere else, such a fearsome predator would be shunned, but in Japan the locals have forged a special relationship with the hornets, a relationship based on respect.
24:54
KILLER HORNETS
Reporter: Mark Simkin
Camera: Geoffrey Lye/Jun Matsuzono
Research: Yayoi Eguchi/Yumi Asada
Editor: Garth Thomas
Producer: Ian Altschwager
August 2003 - 09 min 12 sec
Field of flowers in Japanese countryside
Music
16:00
SIMKIN: In the valleys of Nagano, ancient Japanese traditions remain strong.
17:08
Koi in pond
Music
Hornet hunters
SIMKIN: It is here that Yoichiro Tateishi and his hornet hunters go about their work. They are searching for Japan's deadliest creature. A nest full of the monsters has been discovered in a nearby backyard. Everyone within 30 metres has to wear protection.
Music
16:20
Hornet hunters suit up
SIMKIN: The hornets are smoked out of their hole and the fund begins, they're captured one by one.
Music
16:48
YOICHIRO TATEISHI: There are not many hornets yet. In the coming weeks, they will grow much bigger and become more numerous. But right now, this is the situation.
17:01
Hornet hunters
SIMKIN: These men aren't even being paid for their labour, they're doing it because they're obsessed with hornets and because they get to take their work home with them.
17:14
Tateishi cuts open hornet's nest
The nest is taken back to Tateishi-san's house, where a band of happy helpers has gathered. Adult hornets are put in one pile, the immature ones in another and this morsel, well it goes somewhere else entirely.
17:34
YOICHIRO TATEISHI: This is a queen, it's delicious. It is very sweet.
Tateishi cooks hornets
SIMKIN: This isn't a scientific exercise, it's a culinary one and it turns out there's more than one way to cook a killer hornet. Catching and eating hornets dates back hundreds of years to the days when protein was scarce. No matter that the creatures contain deadly poison, that only adds to the challenge and flavour.
18:01
Simkin with Tateishi
SIMKIN: To feed his fascination and stomach, Tateishi san has begun breeding killer hornets. He keeps seven nests in his house. Empty nests are kept as ornaments.
YOICHIRO TATEISHI: I should be called a hornet freak.
18:30
Tateishi
I have had a long relationship with them, ever since my childhood. I think eating them was the starting point, and because they are delicious, I have maintained my interest. As well, I enjoy braving danger and pain.
18:48
Misao Inoue at shrine
SIMKIN: Misao Inoue knows that better than most. Last year, her husband was picking mushrooms in the Nagano countryside when he stumbled across a hornet nest. The 61 year old was stung twice and was dead within a few hours.
MISAO INOUE: When he returned home,
19:13
Misao
he was bleeding from here and this part had turned purple. I had assumed this was the cause of his death, but he actually died from the one hornet sting on his shoulder.
19:32
Misao Inoue at shrine
SIMKIN: Inoue-san refuses to blame the insect for what it did. She says the hornets and the Japanese people have a special bond.
MISAO INOUE: The main similarity between us and the hornets
20:01
Misao
is the crowd mentality. Japanese people like to work as a group, and it's the same with hornets.
20:14
Hornets' nests in museum
Music
20:33
SIMKIN: Teteishi the hornet hunter isn't only Nagano local who collects hornet homes. On the other side of town there's a museum full of them. These pieces are considered highly artistic. The hornets did need some help and they got it from this man.
20:37
Simkin and Asakazu at museum
ASAKAZU TOMINAGA: This was used in the Winter Olympics. It was displayed at a government office in Nagano. Mr. Samaranch and other officials were greatly impressed by it.
21:02
Asakazu and Simkin visit workshop
SIMKIN: Asakazu Tominaga showed us his workshop. The master is in the process of turning these nests into a giant rabbit.
21:14
ASAKAZU TOMINAGA: If you come closer to them, it will be dangerous because there are lots of hornets; there are about 40,000 of them.
21:32
SIMKIN: Tominaga san says he shapes the nest by telling the hornets where to go.
21:42
ASAKAZU TOMINAGA: They are like cute children to me. I can communicate with them for the most part because I know their habits. I know if they're angry when they are making a noise -- or whether they're in a good mood, and laughing.
21:48
SIMKIN: Unfortunately, just as the masterpiece was taking shape, our cameraman, Jun Matsuzono, ignored the advice about getting too close. His protective suit and preventive medicine proved useless.
22:07
JUN MATSUZONO: Ouch, the pain! Ouch, I am stung!
22:20
Jun in hospital
SIMKIN: Jun survived, but had to spend time in hospital. My amateur camera work was also pretty crook.
22:27
JUN MATSUZONO: It's very, very dangerous. It's so big pain. It's so dangerous.
Asakazu sprays nest
SIMKIN: A few days later with Jun up and about but very tender, Tominaga-san vowed to repair the damage with a special potion. He set about collecting the key ingredient. The insects, subdued but still alive, were taken to a nearby brewery. Tominaga san concocted a brew that makes the worm in a tequila bottle seem positively pathetic: hornet sake.
22:50
Simkin drinks sake
SIMKIN: Kampai! Oh it's very strong, isn't it? Extremely strong!
23:18
The sake isn't the only hornet beverage to have a big impact on those who consume it. There's a rival product that's modern, rather than traditional.
23:32
Advertisement showing Naoko
Naoko Takahashi is Japan's most famous athlete. She won the Sydney Olympic marathon. The secret of her success: Takahashi san gulps own hornet saliva before every race. Each day killer hornets fly the equivalent of two marathons at 30 kilometres an hour. It turns out the source of their energy is their spit and so the saliva has been turned into a sports drink. The hornet juice is creating a huge buzz. It's flooded the Japanese gym scene and many of the country's top athletes have started drinking it.
23:46
Women in gym
WOMAN: When I consume Vaam, I have no trouble exercising. It has become a necessity for me.
24:29
WOMAN 2: I have an image of hornets as creatures that are small, but work very hard. I would like to be able to work hard like the hornets do.
24:36
Hornets
Music
SIMKIN: It's been a remarkable rehabilitation. Anywhere else, such a fearsome predator would be shunned, but in Japan the locals have forged a special relationship with the hornets, a relationship based on respect.
24:54
KILLER HORNETS
Reporter: Mark Simkin
Camera: Geoffrey Lye/Jun Matsuzono
Research: Yayoi Eguchi/Yumi Asada
Editor: Garth Thomas
Producer: Ian Altschwager