Takahama Kyoshi

Takahama Kyoshi, (b. Feb. 22, 1874, Matsuyama,
Japan—d. April 8, 1959, Kamakura), haiku poet, a
major figure in the development of haiku literature
in modern Japan.
Through his friend
Kawahigashi Hekigotō, he became acquainted with the
renowned poet Masaoka Shiki and began to write haiku
poems. In 1898 Takahama became the editor of
Hototogisu, a magazine of haiku that was started by
Shiki. He and Kawahigashi, the two outstanding
disciples of Shiki, became pitted against each other
after Shiki’s death.
Kawahigashi became
the leader of a new style of haiku, one that
disregarded the traditional pattern. For a time
Takahama was preoccupied with writing novels in a
realistic, sketchlike style, but he eventually
returned to haiku. Writing in Hototogisu, he opposed
Kawahigashi’s new movement and advocated realism in
haiku, stressing that haiku poets should contemplate
nature as it is. He published these beliefs in
Susumu beki haiku no michi (1918; “The Proper
Direction for Haiku”). His numerous collections of
poetry have been compiled into the two-volume
anthology Takahama Kyoshi zenhaiku shū (1980; “The
Complete Haiku Poems of Takahama Kyoshi”). Takahama
also wrote several novels, including Haikaishi
(1909; “Haiku Poet”).