Origins & Early Life

Yosa (no) Buson (与謝 蕪村; Japanese pronunciation: [joꜜ.sa | bɯꜜ.soɴ]) was a Japanese poet and painter of the Edo period. He lived from 1716 – January 17, 1784. Along with Matsuo Bashō and Kobayashi Issa, Buson is considered among the greatest poets of the Edo Period. He is also known for completing haiga as a style of art, working with haibun prose, and experimenting with a mixed Chinese-Japanese style of poetry.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

Buson was born in the village of Kema in Settsu Province (present-day Kema, Miyakojima Ward, Osaka). His original family name was Taniguchi. Buson scarcely discussed his childhood, but it is commonly thought that he was the illegitimate son of the village head and a migrant worker from Yoza. According to the Taniguchi family in Yosano, Kyoto, Buson was the son of a servant woman named Gen, who had come to work in Osaka and had a child with her master. A grave of Gen survives in Yosano.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

There is an oral tradition that the young Buson had been cared for at the Seyaku-ji temple in Yosano, and later, when Buson returned to Tango Province, he gave the temple a folding screen painting as a gift. Around the age of 20, Buson moved...

Contemporary Figures & Related Historical Timelines

• George Germain, 1st Viscount Sackville — Contemporary (Born in 1716) (1716): British statesman and military officer, known for his role in the American War of Independence.
• Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz — Contemporary (Died in 1716) (1716): German polymath credited with calculus, binary arithmetic, and foundational philosophical works.
• Denis Diderot — Contemporary (Died in 1784) (1784): Enlightenment philosopher, co-founder of the Encyclopédie, and literary giant.
• Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel — Contemporary (Born in 1784) (1784): Pioneering astronomer and mathematician known for stellar parallax measurements.
• Ibn Abidin — Contemporary (Born in 1784) (1784): Authoritative Hanafi Jurist from Damascus, renowned for Radd al-Muhtar.
• Al Capone — Shared historical date (01-17 · Born) (1899): Notorious American gangster and businessman during the Prohibition era.
• Alain Badiou — Shared historical date (01-17 · Born) (1937): Influential French philosopher known for 'Being and Event' and universalism.
• Junípero Serra — Historical peer (Died in 1784) (1784): Spanish Franciscan missionary credited with founding California's missions.
• Lê Quý Đôn — Historical peer (Died in 1784) (1784): Polymath, poet, and encyclopedist of 18th-century Vietnam.
• Alfred F. Young — Shared historical date (01-17 · Born) (1925): Pioneering American historian of the Revolution and working-class social history.
• 1716 Historical Timeline & Archive — Explore world events and figures from 1716
• 1784 Historical Timeline & Archive — Explore world events and figures from 1784
• January 17 (01-17) On This Day — Historical events and memorials on January 17