Background
Shiimoto Saimaro was born in 1656 in Nara, Japan.
Shiimoto Saimaro was born in 1656 in Nara, Japan.
Shiimoto studied under Saikaku Ihara in Osaka.
Shiimoto cultivated haiku, poetry of the Danrin school. He went to Tokyo and composed 1,000 17-syllable poems in one sitting at the Kannon Temple in Asakusa. Then Saimaro returned to Osaka and became acquainted with Basho Matsuo when the great haiku master was still in his middle age. Although he lost some of the Danrin school's mannerisms, he did not join the group of Basho.