Issa and Being Human: Haiku Portraits of Early Modern Japan
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Issa and Being Human: Haiku Portraits of Early Modern Japan
Kobayashi Issa (1763-1828) wrote thousands of one-breath verses depicting people from various walks of life in early modern Japan: farmers, priests, samurai, merchants, artisans, actors, singers, musicians, geisha, prostitutes, beggars, outcastes, thieves, and sumo wrestlers. This book explores these haiku in their historical, cultural and biographical contexts in an effort to understand what "being born human" meant to Issa, a deeply spiritual and (often) savagely satirical observer of his society.