The Lepidopterological Society of Japan (LSJ) was founded in Kyoto on September 1, 1945, just after World War II.
The first issue of the the Society's scientific journal, TYO TO GA (Trans. lepid. Soc. Jap.) was published on November 30, 1949. The Japanese word 'TYO' means 'butterfly' or 'butterflies', 'TO' means 'and', and 'GA' means 'moth(s)' in English.
In 1955, the first isse of the Society's another journal, YADORIGA was published. 'YADORI' is derived from a Japanese verb 'yadoru' which means 'parasitize' in English. 'GA' means here 'moth(s)' again. This journal was named as 'YADORIGA' because this small booklet had been sent to the members always with the journal TYO TO GA: YADORIGA had been a parasite booklet of the journal TYO TO GA.
In 1969, the LSJ's expedition team made overseas scientific research in Taiwan for the first time. Thereafter, the Society's teams made overseas researches in Hymalaya in 1963, in Malaysia in 1964, and in Taiwan in 1965 again.
Nature conservation and protection of endangered species had become an important problem in 1980s. The Nature Conservation Committee published the first issue of Decline and Conservation of Butterflies in Japan in 1989. Thereafter, four issues had been published. The Nature Conservation Committee began to hold the LSJ Seminar on the nature consevation and protection of endangered species. The Seminars were held in Osaka in 1990, in Urawa, Saitama in 1991, in Matsumoto, Nagano in 1992, in Sendai, Miyagi in 1993, in Kagosima in 1994, and Toyota, Aichi in 1995. The next Seminar will be held in Shizuoka in 2003. International Symposium on Butterfly Conservation was held at Osaka Prefecture University, Sakai, Osaka in 1994. Both Japanese case studies and world-wide conservation strategies had been discussed there. The proceeding was published as Decline and Conservation of Butterflies in Japan III.
In 1996, The Gifucho Forum, a forum concerning the Small Tiger Swallowtail, Lhuedorfia japonica, was held at Nagaragawa Convention Center, Gifu.
Seasonal migration of the Chestnut Tiger, Parantica sita has been proven recently. The Asagimadara Project of LSJ was organized in 1999 to support researches on migration of the Chestnut Tiger.