Matsuo Basho
(1644–1694)
In his own day, Basho was revered in Japan as the greatest master of haiku. Basho took his name from the name of a tree, which a disciple planted in the garden of a desolate hut to which the poet had retreated. The poet associated himself with that tree, with its delicate leaves easily torn by the wind.
Taniguchi Buson
(1716–1783)
Little information survives about the life of Buson, who was a painter as well as a poet. Like all haiku poets, he was deeply influenced by Basho. Although Buson lived during difficult times, his poetry was removed from all worldly concerns.
Kobayashi Issa
(1762–1826)
Issa lived in poverty most of his life, enduring the deaths of his wife and five children and eking out an existence studying under Chikua, one of the leading haiku poets of the period. Somehow transcending the sadness and disappointments of his life, Issa wrote extraordinarily simple poems full of wry humor and tenderness, especially for small, weak animals.
