, often known by the mononym Shikō, was a Japanese

haiku is a type of short form poetry that originated in Japan. Traditional Japanese haiku consist of three phrases composed of 17 Mora (linguistics), morae (called ''On (Japanese prosody), on'' in Japanese) in a 5, 7, 5 pattern; that include a ''kire ...

poet of the early

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

, known as one of

Matsuo Bashō ; born , later known as was the most famous Japanese poet of the Edo period. 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 th ...

's and the originator of the ''Shishimon'' school (or Mino school) of poetry. As of 2024, his school of poetry has remained active to the present day, having had its 41st consecutive master at its head since 2006.

Biography

Shikō was born in Nishiyama, Kitano Village, Yamagata district,

Mino Province was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today southern Gifu Prefecture. Mino was bordered by Ōmi to the west, Echizen and Hida to the north, Shinano to the east, and Ise, Mikawa, and Owari to the south. Its abbreviated fo ...

(in present-day

Gifu is a Cities of Japan, city located in the south-central portion of Gifu Prefecture, Japan, and serves as the prefectural capital. The city has played an important role in Japan's history because of its location in the middle of the country. Durin ...

). He lost his father at a young age and entered the to train as a

Zen Buddhist Zen (; from Chinese: ''Chán''; in Korean: ''Sŏn'', and Vietnamese: ''Thiền'') is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition that developed in China during the Tang dynasty by blending Indian Mahayana Buddhism, particularly Yogacara and Madhyamaka phil ...

monk. Around the age of 19, however, he left the temple and returned to secular life, living in

Kyōto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it the ninth-most pop ...

and Iseyama. He was adopted by the Kagami family, into which his second eldest sister had married, and took their name. Shikō met Matsuo Bashō in Ōmi in April 1690, at the age of 26, and became his disciple. Consequently, he accompanied Bashō to

Edo Edo (), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the '' de facto'' capital of Japan from 1603 as the seat of the Tokugawa shogu ...

the following year. In 1692, he travelled to Mutsu Province and published his first treatise on haiku, . In 1694, he accompanied Bashō on his journey from

Iga Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan located in what is today part of western Mie Prefecture.Louis-Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Iga" in . Its abbreviated name was . Iga is classified as one of the provinces of the T� ...

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

. When Bashō came down with a stomach illness, Shikō was present at his deathbed and wrote Bashō's will. Following his teacher's death, Shikō frequently toured around Iga, Ise, Ōmi, Edo, and elsewhere in the country, holding memorial performances in his teacher's memory. During this time, he also collected Bashō's poems and writings into the . In 1711, wishing to hear his own posthumous reputation, he feigned his own death. Thereafter, he posed as his own disciple, publishing under pseudonyms like Renjibō and , and established himself at a hermitage in Yamada, Ise Province. By the time that he published the , his poetic style had become firmly established. Shikō was very active during this period: he travelled far, visiting

Kyūshū is the third-largest island of Japan's four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa and the other Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Islands). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regio ...

, Chūgoku,

Shikoku is the smallest of the List of islands of Japan#Main islands, four main islands of Japan. It is long and between at its widest. It has a population of 3.8 million, the least populated of Japan's four main islands. It is south of Honshu ...

, and Hokuriku; published many haiku collections and treatises; and took on many disciples. After 1724, he returned to his hometown in Mino, where he lived at the Shishi-an hermitage. During these final years of his life, he named Rogenbō Rikō as the successor of his school of poetry, which came to be known as the , after his home province, or . Shikō passed away at Shishi-an in 1731, at the age of 67, having continued to write right up to his death. He was buried in the tomb he had built himself at Daichi-ji Temple. Subsequently, Rogenbō published a memorial anthology of Kagami's writings titled . The Shishi-an hermitage where Shikō spent his final years is designated a historic site by Gifu Prefecture.

References

External links

Shishimon/Mino school website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kagami, Shiko Haiku poets 1665 births 1731 deaths Buddhist poets Writers of the Edo period Japanese Zen Buddhists 18th-century Japanese poets Japanese haiku poets Writers from Gifu Prefecture