These stories catered to the whims of the newly prominent merchant class, whose tastes of entertainment leaned toward the arts and pleasure districts.

A few days after her death, in an act of grief and true love, Saikaku started to compose a thousand-verse haikai poem over twelve hours.

The overall experience and success that Saikaku received from composing such a mammoth exerise has been credited with sparking the writer's interest in writing novels.

Shortly after his wife's death, the grief-stricken Saikaku decided to become a lay monk and began to travel all across Japan, thus leaving behind his three children (one of whom was blind) to be cared for by his extended family and his business by his employees.

Initially Saikaku continued to produce haikai poetry, but by 1682 he had published The Life of an Amorous Man, the first of his many works of prose fiction.