Yoshida Kenkō
Yoshida Kenkō (c. 1283 – 1350) was a poet and essayist in the Muromachi and Kamakura Periods, considered to be the outstanding literary figure of his time. His most famous work is Tsurezuregusa (Essays in Idleness), a collection of nostalgic essays such as on the beauty of nature, the transience of life, traditions, and friendship.
Kenkō was the son of an administrative official of the court. He became an officer of guards at the Imperial Palace. Late in life he retired from public life and became a Buddhist monk and hermit. The reasons for this are unknown, but it has been conjectured that he had an unhappy ending to a love affair or he was mourning the death of Emperor Go-Uda in 1324.
At the imperial court he wrote poetry and entered some poetry contests but his fame rests on Tsurezuregusa, published posthumously. Tsurezuregusa is a collection of 243 short essays. Although traditionally translated as “Essays in Idleness,” a more accurate translation would be “Notes from Leisure Hours” or “Leisure Hour Notes.” Themes of the essays reflect Buddhist influences and include the beauty of nature, the transience of life, traditions, and friendship. Beauty for Yoshida implied impermanence; the shorter-lived a moment or object of beauty, the more precious he considered it. The work was written in the zuihitsu (“follow-the-brush”) style, a type of stream-of-consciousness writing that allowed the writer’s brush to skip from one topic to the next, led only by the direction of thoughts. Some are brief remarks of only a sentence or two; others recount a story over a few pages, often with discursive personal commentary added. In many essays, he laments over the passing of old customs and the demise of the glorious days of the past. Tsurezuregusa is perhaps the most studied work in Muromachi Period literature becoming a part of Japanese education since the 17th century.
So great was Kenkō’s influence that the Yoshida Shinto adherents forged documents to show that his original name was Urabe Kaneyoshi , and that his last name was later Yoshida. The Yoshida Shintō also frequently referred to as Yuiitsu Shintō, “One-and-only Shintō,“ was a prominent sect of Shinto that arose during the Sengoku period through the teachings and work of Yoshida Kanetomo. It sought to elevate Shinto over Buddhism.