Tokyo is a city of many things, but "nature"? Not exactly a word that most associate with the metropolis. When it comes to the city's animal life, most Tokyoites think meiwaku dōbutsu (迷惑動物, pests) rather than yasei-dōbutsu (野生動物, wildlife), associating animal encounters with mischievous karasu (烏, crows), skittering gokiburi (ゴキブリ, cockroaches), and the occasional dobu-nezumi (ドブネズミ, sewer rat) scampering by.

But Tokyo is a big place, and when spring comes to the city, so too does a surprising range of wildlife — if you know where to look.

The Japanese have an actual term for the first stirring of life after winter: keichitsu (啓蟄). There isn't any direct English equivalent, but it means something like "the awakening of the creatures."