Yokoi Yayu | Moon

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Yokoi Yayu was a wealthy and influential samurai from Owari (today the area around Nagoya). He was a man of diverse interests, talents, and knowledge. He was known for being skilled in warfare, horsemanship, and other essential skills for a high-ranking samurai. In the realm of poetry, he excelled not only in haikai and haibun but also in Chinese poetry (kanshi) and humorous poetry (kyoka). Additionally, he was a talented painter and calligrapher and even gained recognition for his recitation of the medieval war epic Heike monogatari accompanied by the biwa lute and the performance of Noh texts. In Japan, he is also celebrated for his haibun, which are prose sketches in the spirit of haiku. Yokoi published over two thousand poems. The one on this scroll is taken from his book Rayoshu “Ivy Leaves Collection”, published in 1767. 

For a brief moment,
the crescent moon,
faint and hazy.