Haikai - Yosa Buson and Masaoka Shiki

Yosa Buson and Masaoka Shiki

In the late Meiji period, the poet and literary critic Masaoka Shiki (1867-1902) first used the term "haiku" for the modern, standalone verses of haikai that Bashō had popularized. (Before that, haiku had been called hokku, which refers to the first verse in a haikai no renga sequence.) Shiki also rediscovered Yosa Buson, a prominent "Back to Bashō" poet and painter who died December 24, 1783 at age 86. Shiki considered Buson a painter in words and a visual poet, and Shiki's writings during the 19th century formed the foundation for the appraisal of Buson’s work in most of the 20th century.