Who is Kobayashi Issa

Kobayashi Issa (小林 一茶, June 15, 1763 – January 5, 1828) was a Japanese poet and lay Buddhist priest of the Jōdo Shinshū. He is known for his haiku poems and journals. He is better known as simply Issa (一茶), a pen name meaning Cup-of-tea (lit. "one [cup of] tea"). He is regarded as one of the four haiku masters in Japan, along with Bashō, Buson and Shiki — "the Great Four."Reflecting the popularity and interest in Issa as man and poet, Japanese books on Issa outnumber those on Buson and almost equal in number those on Bashō.

Biography

Issa was born and registered as Kobayashi Nobuyuki (小林 信之), with a childhood name of Kobayashi Yatarō (小林 弥太郎), the first son of a farmer family of Kashiwabara, now part of Shinano-machi, Shinano ...
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Kobayashi Issa Poems

• The Crow
  The crow
  walks along there
  as if it were tilling the field.
  ...
• Having Slept, The Cat Gets Up
  Having slept, the cat gets up,
  yawns, goes out
  to make love.
  ...
• Even On The Smallest Islands
  Even on the smallest islands,
  they are tilling the fields,
  skylarks singing.
  ...
• Summer Night
  Summer night--
  even the stars
  are whispering to each other.
  ...
• The Moon Tonight
  The moon tonight--
  I even miss
  her grumbling.
  ...

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Kobayashi Issa Quotes

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Comments about Kobayashi Issa

• Mariederoy1: enjoying a break from the snow in ab - taking in the blossoms and spring here in beautiful vancouver “what a strange thing! to be alive beneath cherry blossoms.” ― kobayashi issa
• Mrsmatsujundesu: "what a strange thing! to be alive beneath cherry blossoms." —kobayashi issa
• Ferranbarber: "what a strange thing! to be alive beneath cherry blossoms." — kobayashi issa
• Estherhawdon: "cherry blossoms -- residents of this world a short time" issa kobayashi (image: taikan yokoyama )
• Estherhawdon: "without regret they fall and scatter cherry blossoms" issa kobayashi (images: eiho hirezaki / yuhan ito / shiro kasamatsu)

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