By Kobayashi Issa
Late Edo period (19th century)
Donated by the Homma family
Kobayashi Issa (1763-1828) was a haiku poet of the late Edo period. His haigō or pen name literally means “One Tea,” and he is revered in Japan as one of the greatest poets of haiku tradition.
Born and registered as Kobayashi Nobuyuki, with a childhood name of Kobayashi Yatarō, he was sent to Edo by his fathers at the age of 15 to make a living. Little is known about the subsequent decade of his life, but at the age of 27 in 1789, he travelled north to the Ōu region; and then again westwards to the Kansai region at the age of 30, meeting haiku poets across these areas during his journey. He once caricatured himself in the following terms: “Rambling to the west, wandering to the east, there is a madman who never stays in one place.”
After returning to Edo, he took up teaching, leaving behind some 20,000 haiku. ‘Oragayoya,’ which celebrates the ready availability of aromatic mugwort for harvesting and making into rice cakes in spring, was written in 1815.