nhk world's yuichi reports on a japanese company taking advantage of a source of protein that's often overlooked. >> these crackers hit the market in may. they may look like ordinary snacks. but they are made of something different. cricket powder, potato starch. at first, they taste like shrimp crackers. the more you chew, the sweeter they get. >> a company in tokushima provides cricket powder using the crackers. at tokushima university, his team is raising 700,000 crickets. they are big ones. the type that typically lives in the tropic. the team is raising them from egg. in a month, they will be three centimeters long. their fast growth makes them a quickly renewable source of protein. and they need natural space and food. >> translator: we're using crickets as food. so we need to keep good records, from the moment they hatch until they are harvested. we have to make sure they're safe to eat. >> the crickets eat wheat that often is discarded in milling. that makes the project even more ecofriendly. recently, they've, alalso, been feasting on overripe citrus that grows in the area to