Common Motifs: Chou - Butterfly

Today's motif is an easy one to recognize: the lovely "chou" 蝶 or "butterfly" (my young students also called them "chou chou" in a babytalk sort of way). Typically a spring motif, they can be shown in realistic or more abstract ways and are often paired with various flowers. Below are butterflies as seen on a haori (jacket), a fukuro obi, and a Nagoya obi.

If you'd like to read more in this series, you can search "common motif" to see other entries. All photos copyright Ichiroya and used with permission.