How to: Use Pesticide to Prevent and Kill Cockroaches and Other House Pests

2014.12.27　｜　 Life Style Info　｜　 How to? Guide　｜　

Cockroaches and Mites are two of the house pests which everyone hates and are difficult to deal with. Luckily in Japan, we usually do not see these pests as we often only see them around summer.

But what do we do when we encounter and have to deal with these small creatures?


First thing to keep in mind when it comes to pests like cockroaches is that prevention is the key! It is very difficult to get rid of them completely but following some measures below can decrease and attract less of these creatures.


Keep trash outside your apartment if possible, and empty them regularly.
Cover up cracks or small spaces where insects might be able to enter. Cockroaches could almost fit anywhere so better check your apartment if you have just moved in.
・ The best way to prevent house pests is to clean your apartment regularly.


There are plenty of insecticide and cockroach baits and traps and they have different effect and usage.

Cockroach Bait

an insecticide mixed with real food ingredients which are placed in a little plastic container for the cockroaches to come and eat. Eventually, the ingested poison will kill them, and if they return to their colony, other roaches will eat their feces and die as well.

ブラックキャップ　”Black Cap”                                   ・ ホウ酸ダンゴ　”Boric Acid Dango”


Cockroach Traps

are also small containers usually made in boxes with a glue sheet at the bottom that traps the roaches when they crawl in. The trap includes a powdered like food that you place in the middle of the glue sheet to lure the roaches. You can buy these traps in 100 yen shops as well.

・ ごきぶりホイホイ “Gokiburi Hoihoi”


Insecticide Sprays

are used when you want to kill a cockroach when you see them skittering around. However, it is not highly recommended due to high probability of exposure during the application and inhaling the gas coming from it.


バルサン “Varsan” (Bug Bomb)

is the most common bug bomb in Japan which is sold in home stores or drug stores. If you have a lot of pests in your apartment, the easiest way to get rid of them is to bug bomb them. There are different types but water based and smoke bombs are popular. Its suggested to do this about twice a year.
However, you have to leave your apartment for 3 to 4 hours when you set it off.

Please follow carefully the instructions below before using this insecticide.

1. First, close the windows and cover fire alarm and furnitures like tv.
2. Place the product in the middle of the house and open the cap and use it to rub the middle part of the can as shown in the video. Smoke will come out.
3. Leave the apartment for 2 to 3 hours.
4. Clean the apartment by Vacuum cleaner.

Video Instruction(Japanese):