gigantic centipede

This year I hope not to see any of these evil beasts. You can't really tell how big this is from the picture, but suffice it to say that it's a little thicker than a pencil and about as long. Nate almost stepped on it in his sandals.
When I was five, my dad and I were in the back yard doing things with dirt (digging? looking for worms?). I saw a red centipede (much smaller than this one) and picked it up because I wanted to examine it closer. My dad yelled at me to drop it, but I didn't understand why when all I wanted to do was make a new friend. Some friend. It bit me and it hurt A LOT. I can only imagine how much it would hurt if you got bitten by this big one. Centipedes are one thing about Japan I will not miss.