By Ōyodo Michikaze
1691 (4th year of the Genroku era)
Donated by the Homma family
Designated Cultural Property of Sakata City
In May 1683, when the Izu haiku poet Ōyodo Michikaze (1639–1707) visited Sakata on a nationwide tour, the haiku poet Itō Fugyoku of Sakata organised a poetry performance.
This work is a ‘dokugin kasen.’ While a kasen typically refers to a 36-verse renga in which alternating stanzas are composed collaboratively in succession by multiple poets, in this case all 36 verses were penned by Michikaze — dokugin, or ‘solo.’ It includes his haiku from Sakata, and is a valuable source of information on Michikaze — who belonged to the Danrin school of poetry — and his influence on Sakata’s haikai (comic linked verse), even before Bashō’s visit.