When Japanese start caring rhinoceros beetles?
As I described in “Stag beetles and rhinoceros beetles in Japanese culture”, caring rhinoceros beetles and stag beetles is common in Japan. Then a question arose in my mind: when these insects became popular? Was it originated in Edo or Meiji era, in which the insects were seen in Japanese paintings? Singing insects in Japanese culture Much earlier than rhinoceros beetles and stag beetles become popular, Japanese people enjoyed singing of insects. The oldest evidence appears in the Man’yōshū, which is…