A Japanese insecticide corporation closed out 2025 by honouring with a Buddhist ritual the lives of insects killed in testing, sparking reflection within the company and beyond.
The annual service is organised by Japan’s leading manufacturer of insecticide, Earth Corporation, reports the South China Morning Post. Around 100 employees gathered at Myohoji Temple, in Hyogo prefecture, for the roughly hour-long Buddhist memorial service.
Photographs of several experimental species, including mosquitoes, cockroaches and mites, were placed in front of a Buddhist altar. Employees took turns offering incense and praying for the peaceful rest of the insects which contributed to product development in the previous year.
Japanese media reports indicate the company’s research facility houses over a million cockroaches and more than 100 million fleas and other insects for testing purposes.
Tomohiro Kobori, head of the research and development department, told the media that the service offered “a valuable opportunity for us to reflect on insects and express our gratitude.”
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A Buddhist monk led the service, chanting sutras and delivering a sermon. While some employees initially found the annual tradition “awkward” or “hilarious,” the solemn atmosphere helped them grasp its deeper significance. These insects, raised by the company and having harmed no one, had died for a purpose.
“The bugs helped us develop products that save lives and assist those affected by insect-borne diseases,” employee Mika Kawaguchi once told Oricon News. Another, Takayuki Nagamatsu, told Nikkei Business, “For researchers working with experimental animals, mourning is a natural act. Even the smallest life is still a life.”
Online observers largely echoed the sentiment, reflecting on how insects are part of life and don’t see themselves as pests, one remarking, “Humans kill animals to live comfortably, but we must remember we are taking lives.”
That’s the mindset behind another strange memorial to insects in Japan: the termite memorial tower. Erected by the Japan Termite Control Association, which focuses on preventing termite and other damage to wooden structures, the stone monument serves as a “symbol of compassion” for the insects killed because they were incompatible with human life.
