or Ibara Saikaku known as Saikaku orig. Hirayama Togo
born 1642, Ōsaka, Japan
died Sept. 9, 1693, Ōsaka
Japanese poet and novelist.
He first won fame for his speed in composing haikai (humorous linked-verse poems), once producing 23,500 in a day. He is best known for his novels, including The Life of an Amorous Man (1682) and Five Women Who Loved Love (1686) in which he enchanted readers with racy accounts of the amorous and financial affairs of the merchant class and the demimonde. He was one of the brilliant figures of the 17th-century revival in Japanese literature.