News in Easy English: Bedbugs cause problems in Japan as summer comes

The Mainichi

a day ago

TOKYO -- In Japan, the number of bedbugs, a kind of insect, is growing. Bedbugs bite people and drink their blood. Their bites make people feel very itchy and uncomfortable.
Bedbugs usually hide during the day. These small brown insects (about 5 to 8 millimeters long) like dark, warm places. They hide in beds, behind curtains, and even inside electrical outlets in walls. At night, bedbugs come out, bite people, and drink blood. Their bites cause a red rash and a lot of itchiness. Sleeping can become very difficult because of this.
Japan once had fewer bedbugs. But since about 20 years ago, more people and goods have come to Japan from other countries. Sometimes, these bugs travel along, too. Bedbugs also have many eggs and can live up to a year. This makes it difficult to get rid of them completely.
Hotels and homes have many more problems with bedbugs now. A pest-control company named Asante even uses special dogs to find bedbugs in hotel rooms. In 2024, the company checked about 3,900 rooms. This number is much higher than before.
How can we stop bedbugs?
When you travel and stay at a hotel, you should check the bed first. If you see little black stains near the bed, these could be bedbug droppings. Bedbugs do not like lights. Sleeping with lights on can help. Or, you can pretend you are asleep. After about 15 minutes, bedbugs might come out. If you see them, tell the hotel right away.
Also, put your bags and clothes in the hotel's bathroom. Bedbugs cannot hold onto surfaces like bathroom tiles, so your things will stay safer.
When you come back home from traveling, leave your suitcase near the entrance of your home. Wash clothes from your suitcase at a laundromat, using high heat. High heat helps kill bedbugs.
If you find bedbugs at home, you can catch them with sticky tape and ask an expert to help. Or use glue traps in your room to catch them.
(Japanese original by Richi Tanaka, Digital News Group)
Vocabulary
bedbug: a small insect that drinks blood from people and animals
rash: an area of red, itchy skin when you have problems like insect bites
pretend: to act something, but not really do it
laundromat: a place to wash clothes using washing machines and dryers
itchy: when your skin feels uncomfortable and you want to scratch it