Kiseki Ejimaya was born in Kyoto. After the death of his father in 1694, he then took the nickname Shōzaemon to which his grandfather and father already wore. Ejima grew up as the son of a merchant in Kyoto and undertook after his death in 1694 the family business.
He wrote his first novel, Keisei Irojamisen whose scene was set in gay quarters, after the style of Saikaku Ihara. His stories were realistic. His early works were mostly published by the Iiachimonjiya Publishing House. Later he published at his own expense and competed with Hachimonjiya. 1712). From 1718 he worked together with Andō, and in 1723 he dissolved his own publishing house. With the 1715 published work Seken musuko katagi "Character pictures of young men of our time" Ejima founded the genus katagi-mono, which are collections of satirically exaggerated character images, each grouped around a theme.
