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Last updated 9/8/2025

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'Saikaku Oyasawa' (Saikaku's Numerous Poems) by Iharu Saikaku, which was published in 1680 contains a haiku which reads:

'Rosei-ga yume-no cho-wa orisue'

and which translates as

'The butterflies in Rosei's dream would be folded paper'.

Rosei is presumably the same Rosei who features in the Noh play 'Kankan', otherwise known as 'Rosei's dream'.

Unfortunately, we do not know what kind of folded paper butterfly the poet had in mind, and whether it was similar to the familiar Ocho and Mecho or something entirely different.

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