Murakami Kijo (1865-1938)

Murakami Kijo was a famous haiku master and was born in 1865 in Edo.  He later moved to the Takasaki city in 1873 where he began his career writing poetry.  He learned under the teachings of Masaoka Shiki and became a member of his group.  He began writing haiku poems and joined efforts with Shiki’s group to produce publications for haiku poetry. 

Together, Murakami and Shiki’s group published Hototogisu, which is a famous Haiku magazine.  Not only was Murakami a famous poet in his community but also nationally.  After many years of writing haiku poetry, Murakami passed away in the fall of 1938.