Ihara Saikaku

Ihara Saikaku was a haikai poet and author of stories of the floating world (ukiyozoshi). We do not know his birthplace or family line, but it is thought that he was born into a well-to-do Osaka urban household. It is said that he was originally named Hirayama Togo, but this has not been confirmed. From the age of 15 or 16 he learned haikai (haiku and related poetry), and in 1673 he gave a performance of Manku haikai (Ten Thousand Haikai Verses) at Ikutama, Osaka. He later published these under the title Ikutama manku (Ten Thousand Verses at Ikutama), using the pen name Kakuei. About this time he began studying under Nishiyama Soin, who founded the Danrin School of haikai, and changed his pen name to Saikaku. Soon thereafter he became very active as a Danrin haikai poet.

In 1675 his wife died of illness, leaving behind three children. In a memorial service for his wife, he recited a thousand verses by himself and published this poetry as Haikai dokugin ichinichi senku (A Thousand Haikai Alone in a Single Day).

In the Fifth Month of 1677 he gave a performance of reciting 1,600 verses by himself over the course of one night and one day. This performance was the origin of competitions to see who could create and recite the most solo linked verse in one day and one night, and the poems were published as Saikaku haikai okukazu (Saikaku's Haikai: The Great Compilation).

In 1682 at the age of 41, he began writing prose, his first work being Koshoku ichidai otoko (The Life of an Amorous Man), published anonymously by the publisher Aratoya under Magobei Kashin. Saikaku's novel concept and refreshing expression were well received and attracted many readers. Encouraged, Saikaku published Shoen okagami (The Great Mirror of Beauties) in the Fourth Month of 1684. Then in the Sixth Month of the same year, he engaged in his last solo linked verse competition in front of the main hall at Sumiyoshi Shrine, creating 23,500 verses in one day and one night. Thereafter he called himself the 20,000-verse old man (niman o) or the 20,000-verse studio (niman do).

Also at around this time, Saikaku entered the theater world. In the First Month of 1683, he published Naniwa no kao wa Ise no oshiroi (The Faces of Naniwa Use Ise's Whiteface), a critique of actors of the day. And in 1685 he wrote the jorurui (storytelling accompanied on the samisen) Koyomi (Calendar) and Gaijin Yashima (Triumphant Return from Yashima) for Uji Kaganojo, making himself a rival to Chikamatsu Monzaemon, who wrote for Takemoto Gidayu.

From 1686 he devoted himself to writing all types of stories of the floating world—erotic stories, stories of townspeople, stories of warriors, etc.—giving a rich picture of life in the pleasure quarters, the economic life of merchants, and the brave and loyal lives of warriors.

On the 10th of the Eighth Month of 1693, Saikaku died. His departing words were "It has been two years since I have spent the night viewing the moon of this floating world." His grave is located in Sengan Temple in the Chuo Ward of Osaka.

His most outstanding works include Koshoku ichidai onna (The Life of an Amorous Woman), Koshoku gonin onna (Five Women Who Loved Love), Nippon eitaigura ("The Eternal Storehouse of Japan"), Seken mune sanyo (This Scheming World), and Budo denrai ki (Transmission of the Martial Arts).