Sokotsu Samukawa

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Sokotsu Samukawa (寒川鼠骨, Samukawa Sokotsu; 1875–1954) was a Japanese Haiku poet in the Meiji era. He was born Akimitsu (陽光) on November 3, 1875, in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture. In 1894 he studied at Daisan Kōtō gakkō (now Kyoto University), where he met Kawahigashi Hekigotō and Takahama Kyoshi and joined the Keihan-Mangetsukai haiku circle. He became so absorbed in writing haiku that he left the school, and worked for the Kyoto and Osaka newspapers while contributing to Hototogisu.

In 1898 he moved to Tokyo to join Nippon newspaper, meeting Kuga Katsunan and Masaoka Shiki. He became Shiki’s pupil and learned the prose sketches Shiki promoted. After Shiki’s death, Samukawa stopped writing hokku (haiku) and focused on prose, travel sketches, and essays. From 1911 onward he spent the rest of his life taking care of Shiki’s house and estate. He died on August 18, 1954.