Yokoi Yayū

Yokoi YayÅ« (横井 也有, October 24, 1702 â€" July 15, 1783) was a Japanese samurai best known for his haibun, a scholar of Kokugaku, and haikai poet. He was born Yokoi Tokitsura (横井 時般), and took the pseudonym Tatsunojō. His family are believed to be descendants of Hōjō Tokiyuki.

Life

Yayū was born in Nagoya, the first son of Yokoi Tokitsura (時衡) who served the Owari Domain. 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 Maezu (前津>) (now in Naka-ku, Nagoya), and lived in the Chiutei (知雨亭) hermitage. He was a prolific and respected composer of haibun, Classical Chinese poems, waka and Japanese satirical poems, and was an adept of the Japanese tea ceremony.

Works

YayÅ« also excelled in Japanese martial arts, studied Confucianism and learned haikai from Mutō Hajaku (武藤巴雀) and ÅŒta Hajō (太ç"°å·´é™). Hajaku and Hajō were pupils of Kagami Shikō (各務æ"¯è€ƒ), a leading disciple of Matsuo Bashō. Mori Senzō (森éŠ'三), a student of old Japanese literature, compared his hokku to senryÅ«, and said they were not as interesting as his haibun. YayÅ« has been described as a master of haibun, and Nagai KafÅ« 永井荷風　called YayÅ«'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 ShÅ«", "Tetsu ShÅ«" (蘿è'‰é›†), (垤集): Anthology of haiku.
• "More Oke" (漏桶): Anthology of renku
• "Kankensō" (管見草): Essay on haikai
• "Rain Hen" (蘿隠編): Prose and poetry in Classical Chinese
• "Gyō-Gyō-Shi" (行々子):　An anthology of Japanese satirical poems

See also

• Haibun
• Haiku

References

• "Zoku Kinsei Kijinden" (続è¿'世畸人伝) by Ban Kōkei (ä¼´è'¿è¹Š) (in Japanese)
• "Haika Kijin-Dan" (俳家奇人談) by Takenouchi Gengen-ichi (竹内玄玄一) (in Japanese)