The first half is here.

3. Stag beetles became popular insects (from mid 1970’s)
Books written only about stag beetles (and rhinoceros beetles) started being published in this period. They included various styles such as illustrated books, encyclopedia and cartoons. Most of them introduced the ecology of the insects and how to care them. I picked up some of them which I felt enjoyable even now (written in Japanese).

“カブトムシ・クワガタのひみつ”, written by 林夏介, published by 学習研究社, (1976)
Introduced stag beetles and rhinoceros beetles in postage stamps worldwide at a rear side of a cover of the book.

“決定版カブトムシ・クワガタムシ:たのしい採集と飼育大作戦”, written by 勝屋志郎, published by 双葉社 (1980)
Rich in contents about ecology, human culture, how to care, how to take a beautiful photo of stag beetles and rhinoceros beetles.

“クワガタムシ:最新図鑑　増補改訂』, written by 山口進, published by 双葉社 (1985)
Rich in contents about how to distinguish species, distribution, conservation, evolution of stag beetles. The book also provides the list of Japanese museums where specimens of foreign stag beetles were exhibited. Bug hunting in foreign countries was introduced shortly.

“日本のクワガタムシ”, written by 藤田宏, published by 講談社 (1985)
A beautiful encyclopedia of Japanese stag beetles. Rich in pictures from large to small individuals within one species.

4. Dorcus hopei binodulosus attracted adult amateurs (from mid 1980’s)
Ecology of Dorcus hopei binodulosus, a large and prominent but rare stag beetle species, was gradually elucidated. It seems that stag beetles were not only for children, but also for adult amateurs from this era.

“おおくわがた:神秘のくわがたむし”, written by 山口進, published by 小学館, (1984)

A photo book written by a photographer Mr. Yamaguchi. He observed Dorcus hopei binodulosus for 2 years in wild and 3 years at his home. Pictures of the stag beetle in wild is impressive.

“月刊むし オオクワガタ特集号”, published by むし社, (1986)

As far as I know this is the first Japanese journal that featured stag beetles. The contents was beyond “how to care”, but “how to raise bigger”. This was qualitatively different from previous books. In this journal, Mr. Kojima, one of the pioneers, wrote that he started breeding Dorcus hopei binodulosus 5 years ago. I imagine small numbers of pioneers developed their way through trial and error process in the era without internet.

“クワガタムシ飼育のスーパーテクニック”, written by 小島啓史, published by むし社, (1996)

A book that instructs how to breed 8 stag beetle species. The book is written by Mr. Kojima and is still have high reputation for its detailed content.

5. Importation of some foreign stag beetles became legal (from 1999)
Some foreign stag beetles came to Japanese market from 1999. Breeding technique for each species has been developed. Although this is also an interesting topic, I postpone to describe it because my understanding is not enough. I may wright about it in future.