Background
Sokan Yamazaki (his real name was Shina Norishige) was born in 1465 in Shiga, Japan.
宗鑑 山崎
Sokan Yamazaki (his real name was Shina Norishige) was born in 1465 in Shiga, Japan.
Originally serving as a court calligrapher for the ninth Ashikaga shōgun, Ashikaga Yoshihisa, the poet became a Buddhist monk and entered seclusion following the shogun's death in 1489. Traveling through Settsu and Yamashiro provinces, Sokan Yamazaki finally settled in a place called Yamazaki. Establishing his hermitage, which he named Taigetsu-an, he adopted the name Yamazaki Sokan.
Sokan left Yamazaki in 1523 and settled five years later in the town of Kan'onji in Sanuki province. On the grounds of Koshoji, he made a hermitage for himself called Ichiya-an, where he spent the rest of his life composing poems.
Sokan died in 1553, after gaining a degree of fame and wealth for his poems and calligraphy.
(Japanese Edition)