Bali

Kobayashi Issa, or simply Issa, is one of the best known and appreciated haiku poets.

Issa was born in Kashiwabara, in what is now part of the Nagano Prefecture in Japan. His father was a farmer. Issa's mother died when the boy was very young and his father soon remarried. Issa's stepmother mistreated him and, when he was fourteen, Issa was sent to Edo (Tokyo) where he studied haiku.

Although he gained some notoriety for his poetry early on, he struggled to get by financially and had to travel and work hard until his fifties. When his father died, Issa had further troubles with his stepmother who prevented him from inheriting his father's property for some time. He eventually was able to claim his inheritance, however.

Though Issa's life was filled with struggles -- the death of his mother at an early age, the conflicts with his stepmother, his poverty, and the death of his own children -- his haiku tend to celebrate the serene joys and simple spiritual moments of life.

"From burweed,
such a butterfly
was born?"