Eating insects in Japan included dragonflies, a tradition that surprises researchers

TOKYO: Research has shed light on a previously little-known insect-eating tradition in parts of the Tohoku region in Japan’s northeast, where dragonflies have been consumed as both delicacies and for medicinal purposes.

Shuji Watanabe, a senior curator at the Iwate Prefectural Museum, compiled a field report that describes how dragonflies have long been eaten by people living in parts of Iwate and Akita prefectures.