Soin Biography | Poet

Nishiyama Soin ( , born Nishiyama Toyoichi () March 28, 1605, Higo Province, Japan, died May 5, 1682, Kyoto ) was a haikai-no-renga poet of the early Tokugawa period. He founded the Danrin school of haikai poetry, which aimed to move away from the serious 'bookishness' popular in Japanese poetry at the time and become more in touch with the common people, infusing a spirit of greater freedom into their poetry.