A Geek in Japan

A while ago I ranted about how annoying it is to have so many crows in Tokyo. Latest data shows that there are between 40.000 and 50.000 crows living in Tokyo, they are noisy in the morning, they move rubble around and sometimes they even attack people (It happened to me more than once). But this time I’m going to give them a little bit of support, I’m starting to like them… a little 🙂

One of the biggest advantages of having so many crows is that they like to eat rats. Yes, in Tokyo there are rats but there are not as many as in other big cities because crows are eating them all the time. After many years in Tokyo I have only seen three rats on the streets, whereas in other big cities outside of Japan I remember seeing more than three rats in one night. The last rat I saw was being eaten by these two cool fellas:

I tried to approach to take a closer picture but it seems they did not like the idea of me joining their banquet.

Another big benefit of crows is that with a little bit of imagination we, humans, can use them! Some ideas about how we could use them as our “slaves” and at the same time keep them happy are explained by Joshua Klein:

• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan and Asia (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
• Japan Probe – Japan news and entertainment (Subscribe)