Japanese Butterfly

Japanese Butterfly Trick is an illusion where paper butterflies hover over and dance by the end of a fan. Called the Fluttering of Butterflies in Japanese, it has been credited to Itchosai Yanagawa for introducing it.

Although originated in Japan, it began to be performed in the west by the 19th Century by Dr. Lynn in 1864.

Publications

• Professor Hoffman's Modern Magic page 397,
• Edwin Sachs' Sleight Of Hand, page 74.
• Jean Hugard in Hugard's Magic Monthly, Volume 1 page 9 combined it with Snowstorm in China.
• Moths of Japan in Paper Magic by Will Blyth (1920) pages 69/71
• Will Dexter in Feature Magic For Mentalists, pages 145 to 151.
• The Japanese Butterfly Trick in Stanyon's Original Lessons in Magic, serialized in Stanyon's Magic Magazine Volume 11

References

• http://www.talkmagic.co.uk/ftopic28298.php
• The Encyclopedic Dictionary of Magic by Bart Whaley