Masaoka Shiki

Masaoka Shiki (mä`sä`ō`kä shē`kē), 1867–1902, Japanese waka and haiku poet. Founder of the literary magazine Hototogisu and patron to a number of young poets, Shiki played a leading role in the revival of the traditional waka and haiku forms. He advocated a realistic, descriptive poetic style, which he regarded as the original spirit of Japanese verse, and his poetic treatises greatly influenced the Japanese literary world in its quest to define modern Japanese modes of expression. Although Shiki's poor health rendered him bedridden in his later years, he maintained an active literary career until his premature death of spinal tuberculosis.