Photo/Illutration Children take part in an event in Hirakata, Osaka Prefecture, to catch cicadas. (Provided by Hirakata city government)

HIRAKATA, Osaka Prefecture—This city in western Japan is recontextualizing an enduring summertime icon, or screeching terror, by turning their corpses into a gift for taxpayers who opt to support the community.

From this autumn, the Hirakata city government will offer candy made from dried cicadas as a thank-you gift to those who make donations to its “furusato nozei” hometown tax program.

The inclusion is less about shock value and is instead rooted in alternative food sources and countryside revitalization.

About 50 people, elementary school children and their parents among them, took part in a late July event to catch the winged insects at a local park.

The event was the brainchild of Kazuki Shimizu, 26, a graduate student at Kindai University who in 2023 established POI, which stands for Products of Innovation, in Nara city.

Shimizu wants to spread the word that insects, such as cicadas, are packed with nutritional value and could help rural communities resuscitate themselves.

He realized that because of its bountiful greenery and many parks, Hirakata was home to a wide variety of cicadas, including the “aburazemi” (large brown cicada). 

A subsidy from the Hirakata city government in fiscal 2024 allowed Shimizu to develop the candy, which has a slightly nutty taste, before selling it and other bug-centric snacks on his website.

City officials realized that eating insects also was gaining global attention under the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals as a potential solution to food insecurity.

That quickly led to the decision to include the cicada candy as a gift for the hometown tax program.

Shimizu served as lecturer at the cicada-catching event held in July where he explained the insect's nutritional value.

“The event served as a catalyst for the children to begin thinking about the possibility that insects could become the food of the future,” a city official said.

The cicada candy will be offered from October and city officials are now determining how much to send depending on the donation amount.

Shimizu said, “I believe having people wonder why cicadas are being given as gifts will serve to generate interest in eating insects and environmental issues.”

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