How to deal with mosquitoes in Japan? | Guidable - Your Guide to a Sustainable, Wellbeing-centred Life in Japan

How to deal with mosquitoes in Japan?

By Guidable Writers Jun 2, 2017

This post is also available in: Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Traditional) Indonesian

 

I believe most of the foreigners who came to Japan have at least suffered once from the mosquito in the summer season. Even if you are able to endure the humid Japanese summers, it is difficult for you to stand the mosquitoes flying all over your house. In order to help you, there are various ways and plenty of products that are able to deal with mosquitos in Japan. Before I introduce them to you, it is essential for you to understand two key terms about mosquitos; one is kayoke (repel mosquito) and katori (kill the mosquito).

Mosquito Coil

If you have been to a house of a Japanese family during the summer season, you should be able to find a Mosquito Coil(Katorisenko) in most of the families in Japan. A mosquito coil is basically an incense stick that contains insecticide.

When you burn the stick, the mosquito coil will emit smoke that kills nearby mosquitoes. One mosquito coil with earth-colored spiral will last for several hours. Mosquito Coil is very effective in killing mosquitos, but there are also several demerits of using it. The mosquito coil can have an unpleasant smell and irritate the throat and eyes. The chemicals may be unhealthy for pets. Therefore, I am going to introduce you more goods that can kill mosquitos.

Mosquito Exterminating Mat

Mosquito exterminating mat, katori matto in Japanese, might not be as strong as mosquito coil, it does provide a safer alternative to the tradition mosquito coil. So how to use a mosquito mat? You need a mosquito mat heater to put the mosquito mat on. As mosquito heater works through electricity, it does not emit any smoke compared to mosquito coil. While a mosquito coil lasts only for several hours, a mosquito heater last from half a day to a whole day. Moreover, Japanese has invented a new product called liquid-type electric mosquito exterminator, denshikatoriki in Japanese. In this device, a liquid pesticide is first poured inside the device. Then the device will propel the pesticide into the air, without any smell and any smoke emitted through the machine.

Insect Repellent Air Fresher

This is a combined version of an air freshener and insect repellent, they are readily available. For the ingredient, it contains pyrethroid, while there are insect repellent air fresher that uses essential oils, botanical, extracts, surfactant, and plant extracts. The Insecticide Spray is also one of the alternative insect repellents. Most of the type use the same repellent.

 

So these are some of the examples of mosquito expelling devices that Japanese have invented. I believe that you can find them in any electronic store in the city so if you want to deal with the mosquito this summer season, you’d better check it out!

When a mosquito bites you, how should you solve the itchiness?

If you try to scratch, there is a couple of problems with doing so. First, you will break the skin and cause a greater risk of infection. If you keep scratching, you will create more inflammation, leading to more itching and worse pain. Now, I will teach you the proper way to treat mosquito bites. First, elevate the affected area and apply a cold compress to reduce blood flow. And then apply lotion or hydrocortisone cream, but don’t scratch. Then clean blisters with soap and water. You may also want to clean the area with rubbing alcohol. If you catch the bite soon after the mosquito bites you, quickly wipe the bite with rubbing alcohol. Rubbing alcohol has a cooling effect when it dries, which may relieve itching. Also, you may apply honey on the bite. Honey is an antiseptic and antibacterial ingredient that has wound healing properties. It’s shown to reduce inflammation and can also help prevent infection. You might also want to use a cold tea bag to utilize the inflammatory effects that may help with the swelling. Soak a bag of green or black tea and pop it in the fridge to cool it down. Apply the cold tea bag over the bite to ease the itchiness.

 

As you can see, there are different unique ways to help you to aloof the itchiness. Therefore, do not scratch the mosquito bite anymore! There are still many alternatives that you can try to resolve your itchiness.

 

Shun

Japan