NISHIYAMA SOIN

born 1605, Higo Province, Japan died May 5, 1682, Kyoto? original name Nishiyama Toyoichi renga (linked-verse) poet of the early Tokugawa period (16031867) who founded the Danrin school of haikai poetry. Soin's haikai (comical renga) became the transition between the light and clever haikai of Matsunaga Teitoku and the more serious and aesthetic haiku of Matsuo Basho. In his youth Soin was a samurai retainer for a daimyo in Kyushu, but his lord encouraged him to develop his literary talents. In 1622 Soin went to Kyoto and by 1633 he was a professional renga poet. His interest in haikai was slow to develop, and it was not until 1673 that his first anthology of haikai, Soin senku (One Thousand Verses by Soin) was published. The poems in this volume, although written in the Teitoku style, demonstrated a higher degree of sophistication than the earlier haikai. Young studentsincluding Ihara Saikaku and Okanishi Ich uwho were dissatisfied with the old school flocked to Soin's Danrin school. His numerous volumes of poetry include Soin gohyakku (1676; Five Hundred Verses by Soin) and Baio Soin hokku shu (1681; The Collected Hokku of the Plum Old Gentleman Soin).