was a Japanese

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They ...

best known for his

haibun is a prosimetric literary form originating in Japan, combining prose and haiku. The range of ''haibun'' is broad and frequently includes autobiography, diary, essay, prose poem, short story and travel journal. History The term "''haibun''" was ...

, a scholar of

Kokugaku ''Kokugaku'' ( ja, 國學, label= Kyūjitai, ja, 国学, label= Shinjitai; literally "national study") was an academic movement, a school of Japanese philology and philosophy originating during the Tokugawa period. Kokugaku scholars worked t ...

, and

haikai ''Haikai'' ( Japanese 俳諧 ''comic, unorthodox'') may refer in both Japanese and English to ''haikai no renga'' ( renku), a popular genre of Japanese linked verse, which developed in the sixteenth century out of the earlier aristocratic renga. ...

poet. He was born , and took the pseudonym Tatsunojō. His family are believed to be descendants of

Hōjō Tokiyuki was a samurai of the Hōjō clan who fought both for and against the Imperial Court. His father was Hōjō Takatoki, last Shogunal Regent and ''de facto'' ruler of the Kamakura shogunate. Tokiyuki had fought against both the Imperial forces an ...

Life

Yayū was born in

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most po ...

, the first son of who served the

Owari Domain The was a feudal domain of Japan in the Edo period. Located in what is now the western part of Aichi Prefecture, it encompassed parts of Owari, Mino, and Shinano provinces. Its headquarters were at Nagoya Castle. At its peak, it was rated ...

. He inherited the Yokoi House's patrimony at twenty-six and held important posts of the Owari Domain. He was for example ''yōnin'' (manager of general affairs), ''Ōbangashira'' (chief of guard) and ''Jisha-Bugyō'' (manager of religious affairs). In 1754, at age 53, he retired for health reasons. Yayū moved to (now in

Naka-ku, Nagoya is one of the 16 wards of the city of Nagoya in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. As of 1 October 2019, the ward has an estimated population of 90,918 and a population density of 9,693 persons per km2. The total area is 9.38 km2. Geography Naka Wa ...

), and lived in the hermitage. He was a prolific and respected composer of haibun,

Classical Chinese Classical Chinese, also known as Literary Chinese (古文 ''gǔwén'' "ancient text", or 文言 ''wényán'' "text speak", meaning "literary language/speech"; modern vernacular: 文言文 ''wényánwén'' "text speak text", meaning "literar ...

poems,

waka Waka may refer to: Culture and language * Waka (canoe), a Polynesian word for canoe; especially, canoes of the Māori of New Zealand ** Waka ama, a Polynesian outrigger canoe ** Waka hourua, a Polynesian ocean-going canoe ** Waka taua, a Māori w ...

and Japanese satirical poems, and was an adept of the

Japanese tea ceremony The Japanese tea ceremony (known as or ) is a Japanese cultural activity involving the ceremonial preparation and presentation of , powdered green tea, the procedure of which is called . While in the West it is known as "tea ceremony", it is se ...

Works

Yayū also excelled in

Japanese martial arts Japanese martial arts refers to the variety of martial arts native to the country of Japan. At least three Japanese terms (''budō'', ''bujutsu'', and ''bugei'') are used interchangeably with the English phrase Japanese martial arts. The usage ...

, studied

Confucianism Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a Religious Confucianism, religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, ...

and learned

from Mutō Hajaku (武藤巴雀) and Ōta Hajō (太田巴静). Hajaku and Hajō were pupils of Kagami Shikō (各務支考), a leading disciple of

Matsuo Bashō born then was the most famous poet of the Edo period in Japan. During his lifetime, Bashō was recognized for his works in the collaborative '' haikai no renga'' form; today, after centuries of commentary, he is recognized as the greatest ma ...

. Mori Senzō (森銑三), a student of old Japanese literature, compared his ''

hokku is the opening stanza of a Japanese orthodox collaborative linked poem, '' renga'', or of its later derivative, '' renku'' (''haikai no renga''). From the time of Matsuo Bashō (1644–1694), the ''hokku'' began to appear as an independent poem, ...

'' to

senryū is a Japanese form of short poetry similar to haiku in construction: three lines with 17 (or , often translated as syllables, but see the article on for distinctions). tend to be about human foibles while haiku tend to be about nature, and a ...

, and said they were not as interesting as his ''haibun''. Yayū has been described as a master of ''haibun'', and Nagai Kafū 永井荷風　called Yayū's ''haibun'' a model of Japanese prose. * "Uzuragoromo" (鶉衣)　: An anthology of ''haibun'', partially translated in ''Monumenta Nipponica'', vol. 34, no. 3, Autumn 1979, by Lawrence Rogers. * "Rayō Shū", "Tetsu Shū" (蘿葉集), (垤集): Anthology of haiku. * "More Oke" (漏桶): Anthology of ''

renku , or , is a Japanese form of popular collaborative linked verse poetry. It is a development of the older Japanese poetic tradition of ''ushin'' renga, or orthodox collaborative linked verse. At renku gatherings participating poets take turns provi ...

'' * "Kankensō" (管見草): Essay on ''haikai'' * "Rain Hen" (蘿隠編): Prose and poetry in

* "Gyō-Gyō-Shi" (行々子):　An anthology of Japanese satirical poems

References

* "Zoku Kinsei Kijinden" (続近世畸人伝) by Ban Kōkei (伴蒿蹊) (in Japanese) * "Haika Kijin-Dan" (俳家奇人談) by Takenouchi Gengen-ichi (竹内玄玄一) (in Japanese) {{DEFAULTSORT:Yokoi Yayu Kokugaku scholars Japanese essayists Japanese Confucianists 1702 births 1783 deaths Japanese writers of the Edo period 18th-century Japanese poets Japanese Buddhists Japanese haiku poets

Life

Works

See also

References