I glance up at the wall across from me and see a spider making its way down. I hate spiders. What it is that freaks me out and makes me do a girly scream is totally beyond me.
There’s one story about a spider that has stayed with me for decades. In first grade, Mrs. Sato reads the class a book called “Kumo no ito” (The Spider’s Thread) by Akutagawa Ryunosuke. Here’s the short version. Buddha is taking a stroll, sees a lily in a pond and sees hell beyond the lily. Buddha sees a criminal walking through the woods, nasty man, who spares the life of a spider. Buddha takes the spider and the criminal (who some how dies between walking through the forest and saving the spider) and lowers both into hell but allows the spider the climb back up. Being a compassionate god, Buddha allows the spider to extend its thread and the criminal starts climbing up, happy that he’s escaping hell. He takes a break, sees others also starting to climb up and freaks out. He tries to kick them off the thread and at that point Buddha cuts the spider’s thread and they all fall back into hell to rot forever. 
This story freaked me out. It was illustrated with a giant Japanese satan (emma dai oh), huge and ugly, and this spider which I also remember being huge and looming. The portrayal of hell in the book was red, bloody, and scary with fire and screaming dead bodies in torment. Why Mrs. Sato chose to read this book to a bunch of six year olds is beyond me. Like I said. It stayed with me.
I now fear both spiders and hell. Go figure.
GAIJIN! 
:O