--- title: A Japanese Zoo Is Trying To Get You To Like Cockroaches description: One Japanese zoo is trying to change the public's perception to cockroaches. canonical: https://time.com/3967251/cockroaches-japan-zoo-exhibition/ author: Helen Regan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-22T08:35:19.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:48:20.173Z og:title: A Japanese Zoo Is Trying to Persuade You to Like Cockroaches og:description: The creepy crawly has apparently been given a bad wrap. og:url: https://time.com/3967251/cockroaches-japan-zoo-exhibition/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd7811b66b75f55bd/69885be52dce01fcbb9e4bbe/cockroach-insect.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Red Cockroach og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: A Japanese Zoo Is Trying to Persuade You to Like Cockroaches twitter:description: The creepy crawly has apparently been given a bad wrap. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd7811b66b75f55bd/69885be52dce01fcbb9e4bbe/cockroach-insect.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This Japanese Zoo Is Trying the Impossible: Persuading People to Like Cockroaches ## Video: Robotic Cockroaches to Help Save Lives in Disasters [Watch (HLS stream): Robotic Cockroaches to Help Save Lives in Disasters](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Pkyw8xrp.m3u8) (1:15)  _Published 2013-09-13. North Carolina researchers think robotic roaches could be trained to help find people after natural disasters._ by [Helen Regan](https://time.com/author/helen-regan/) ## Helen Regan Jul 22, 2015 8:35 AM UTC  Red Cockroach Red CockroachNorrabhudit—iStockphoto/Getty Images by [Helen Regan](https://time.com/author/helen-regan/) ## Helen Regan Jul 22, 2015 8:35 AM UTC They’re extremely fast, famed (and reviled) for their ability to survive a nuclear holocaust and have been [around](http://www.afp.com/en/news/japan-zoo-takes-cockroach-pr-role) since the dinosaurs. There’s also something about them that makes most people on the planet squirm with disgust. But cockroaches, one Japanese zoo believes, have been given lot of unjustified bad press. And so staff at Shunanshi Tokuyama Zoo in western Japan have launched an exhibition to try to persuade people that cockroaches really aren’t all that bad. “They have such a negative image,” a spokeswoman for the zoo told AFP. “But they’re actually playing an important role in the food chain.” Visitors to the exhibition can come face to face with the Madagascar Hissing Cockroach — that can grow up to a whopping 7 c.m. long — and even watch five-way roach races. The zoo also has about 200 individual cockroaches from 15 different species on display, and staff say the exhibition is already a hit with the public. \[[AFP](http://www.afp.com/en/news/japan-zoo-takes-cockroach-pr-role)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3967251/cockroaches-japan-zoo-exhibition/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3967251/cockroaches-japan-zoo-exhibition/"},"headline":"This Japanese Zoo Is Trying the Impossible: Persuading People to Like Cockroaches","datePublished":"2015-07-22T08:35:19.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:48:20.173Z","description":"The world’s most hated insect is getting a makeover","url":"https://time.com/3967251/cockroaches-japan-zoo-exhibition/","keywords":["Newsfeed","animals","Japan","Bizarre","Zoo","Insects","exhibition"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd7811b66b75f55bd/69885be52dce01fcbb9e4bbe/cockroach-insect.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Helen Regan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/helen-regan/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd7811b66b75f55bd/69885be52dce01fcbb9e4bbe/cockroach-insect.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Red Cockroach","caption":"Red Cockroach","creditText":"Norrabhudit—iStockphoto/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3967251/cockroaches-japan-zoo-exhibition/","name":"This Japanese Zoo Is Trying the Impossible: Persuading People to Like Cockroaches"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Robotic Cockroaches to Help Save Lives in Disasters","description":"North Carolina researchers think robotic roaches could be trained to help find people after natural disasters.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/Pkyw8xrp/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2013-09-13T15:02:48.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Pkyw8xrp.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3967251/cockroaches-japan-zoo-exhibition/","duration":"PT1M15S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3967251/cockroaches-japan-zoo-exhibition/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```