Akiko Yosano

About

Renowned and controversial Japanese poet, writer, feminist, and pacifist who wrote between 20,000 and 50,000 poems. She is perhaps best known for an anti-war poem entitled "Kimi Shinitamou koto nakare" and published during the Russo-Japanese War.

Before Fame

She ran her merchant family's yokan (candy) business beginning at the young age of eleven.

Trivia

Her birth name was Sho Ho; Akiko Yosano was her pen name.

Family Life

She married literary editor Tekkan Yosano in 1901. She subsequently gave birth to thirteen children.

Associated With

She was a literary contemporary of fellow Japanese author Eji Yoshikawa.