Mizuhara Shuoshi (
1892-
1981) was a 20th century
Japanese poet who was responsible for a trend towards greater emotional expression in
haiku.
Shuoshi was the son of a doctor who ran a medical clinic, and as eldest son, he followed in his father’s footsteps and went into medicine. He studied
serology,
obstetrics, and
gynecology at
Tokyo University, graduating in
1926. He taught at
Showa Medical College, practiced in his father’s clinic, and in
1932 was appointed to the prestigious post of medical advisor to the
Ministry of the Imperial Household.
He began writing
tanka and haiku as an undergraduate. In the 1920s, he was published in
Hototogisu and his poetry was acclaimed. However, he felt restricted by the conservative principles of
Takahama Kyoshi and his followers and declared his defection in a
1931 essay, "Truth in
Nature and Truth in
Literature". Unlike many poets, who rebelled against the rules like the 17 syllable count, Shuoshi instead felt that Kyoshi’s principles of emotional detachment limited his ability to emotionally express himself through poetry. Shuoshi and his followers started a magazine called
Staggerbush and dedicated themselves to a more
romantic, lyrical type of haiku.
Shuoshi retired from medicine in
1952 and began a series of visits to
Buddhist temples. During his life, he published around 20 volumes of haiku.