Yosano Akiko

Yosano Akiko (1878–1942), born Hō Shō, was a Japanese poet and essayist. She came from a merchant family in Sakai near Osaka and was managing the family business by the age of eleven. She began writing tanka poetry at an early age. Her first poetry collection, Midaregami (Tangled Hair), was published in 1901 and attracted considerable attention. In 1905, an anti-war poem addressed to her brother caused a public stir. Her essays also advocated democratic ideas and women’s rights.