Portrait of Masaoka Shiki

Masaoka Shiki

Japanese poet, author, and literary critic in Meiji period Japan

Lived
1867–1902
Country
Japan
Also writes as
Dassai Šooku, Takenosatobito, 正岡 常規

Updated September 2026

About Masaoka Shiki

Masaoka Shiki , pen-name of Masaoka Noboru, was a Japanese poet, author, and literary critic in Meiji period Japan. Shiki is regarded as a major figure in the development of modern haiku poetry, credited with writing nearly 20,000 stanzas during his short life. He also wrote on reform of tanka poetry.

Biography from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.

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