(PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - One man in Japan has been promoting eating insects (entomophagy), but it seems his fondness for bugs extends beyond his dinner plate.

Yuta Shinohara, 25, has always loved nature and has been eating insects since he was young.

He organises insect-eating events in Japan with dishes that include a bug cocktail, insect pastries and ramen with crickets and mealworms.

One of the insect alcoholic drinks can be seen below:

Seen below is his cricket ramen dishes:

The entomophagist revealed in a video interview with Asian Boss last Jan 23 that he only began opening up about his interest when he was 19.

He explained that after the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) promoted eating insects for food security, he became comfortable with "coming out" about his love for bugs.

At one point, Shinohara revealed that he "dated" a cockroach for a year which he named Lisa. She was farm-raised and bought from Africa.

He said the love was "platonic" and that there were no sexual relations between them.

He said he enjoyed her company so much that he believed they could communicate. The relationship was short-lived because she died. Upon her death, he ate her "with reverence".

"So now Lisa lives in my heart and continues living as part of my body," he said. He also called her his "first love".

He clarified that insects are not the only part of his diet and dispelled misconceptions about their taste. He explained that how an insect would taste depends on its diet - one that he recommended was caterpillars which eat cherry blossoms because they taste like rice cake.