Creepy Crawlers

I just wanted to talk for a moment about something that freaks me out. I'm not a big fan of spiders, but I've gotten a little more used to them since I've been here, since I've had to live with some. There was this little white spider that lived outside my door for a couple months. I got used to seeing her everyday, but unfortunately she disappeared a couple weeks ago and I fear that she either reached the end of her naturally short lifespan, or she was eaten by a bird or something. 

Anyway, there are still some spiders here that really give me the heebie-geebies, and I've seen them all over the place - in Nagasaki, in Hiroshima, and even at my school. These things have all the characteristics of a creepy spider - they're big, they're colorful, and they just hang out in their web and take you by surprise.

I got some decent pictures of them at Nagasaki when I was walking down a mountain road (long story, I'll explain in the next Jukin' episode). I believe I've identified them, and although I don't think they're a threat to people, they still freak me the hell out. Have a look:

This guy's called Nephila clavata or "joro-guma" in Japanese. 

[Shiver]