Yosa Buson

Revolutionary 18th-century Japanese painter-poet who fused haiku with visual art

Yosa Buson (1716-1784) transformed Japanese artistic traditions by creating haiga - paintings integrating haiku poetry. As leader of the Tenmei Haiku Reformation, he broke rigid rules requiring 5-7-5 syllables, allowing verses like:

Winter seclusion -
Listening to the rain
On the bathroom door

His Cuckoo Flying Over New Verdure scroll painting sold for ¥1.65 billion in 2017. Unlike Bashō's wandering asceticism, Buson celebrated urban life through neo-classical revivalism, inspiring modern manga aesthetics.

The artist pioneered shasei (sketch from life) technique, capturing Kyoto's merchant culture. His disciples established the Buson School that dominated Edo-period art. The Yosa Buson Museum in Yosano displays 83 authenticated works, including rare chrysanthemum screen paintings using crushed pearl pigments.