List of Japanese-language Poets - K

K

• Kada no Azumamaro 荷田春満 (1669–1736), early Edo period poet, philologist and teacher as well as poetry tutor to one of the sons of Emperor Reigen; together with Keichū, co-founder of the kokugaku ("national studies") intellectual movement
• Kaga no Chiyo see Chiyo-ni
• Kambara Ariake 蒲原有明 pen-name of Kambara Hayao (1876–1952), Taishō and Showa period poet and novelist
• Kamo no Chōmei 鴨長明 (1155–1216), author, waka poet and essayist
• Kamo no Mabuchi 賀茂真淵 (1697–1769), Edo period poet and philologist
• Kamo no Yasunori no musume (late 10th century), daughter of Kamo no Yasunori, personal name unknown; Heian period poet
• Lady Kasa 笠女郎 (fl. early 8th century) waka poet
• Jun Kawada 川田 順 (1882–1966, Showa period tanka poet and entrepreneur
• Ryuko Kawaji 川路柳虹, pen-name of Kawaki Makoto (1888–1959), Showa period poet and literary critic
• Kikuko Kawakami 川上 喜久子 (1904–1985), Showa period female novelist, short-story writer and poet
• Ki no Tokibumi 紀時文 (922–996), one of the Five Men of the Pear Chamber
• Ki no Tomonori 紀友則 (c. 850 – c. 904), early Heian period waka poet of the court, one of the Thirty-six Poetry Immortals; one of the four compilers of the Kokin Wakashū anthology
• Ki no Tsurayuki 紀貫之 (872–945) Heian period waka poet, government official and courtier; son of Ki no Mochiyuki; one of four compilers of the Kokin Wakashū anthology; provincial governor of Tosa province (930–935) and later possibly governor of Suo province
• Takarai Kikaku 宝井其角, also known as "Enomoto Kikaku" (1661–1707), haikai poet and disciple of Matsuo Bashō
• Kyōsuke Kindaichi 金田一 京助 (1882–1971), linguist and poet; his son is linguist Haruhiko Kindaichi
• Kinoshita Rigen 木下利玄, pen-name of Kinoshita Toshiharu (1886–1925), Meiji- and Taishō-periodtanka poet
• Kisen 喜撰 also known as "Kisen Hōshi" 喜撰法師 (fl. early 9th century), early Heian period Buddhist monk and poet
• Kishi Joō 徽子女王, also Yoshiko Joō 承香殿女御 Jokyōden Joō or 斎宮女御 Saigū no Nyōgo (929–985), middle Heian period Waka poet
• Yaho Kitabatake 北畠 八穂 (1903–1982), Showa period poet and children's fiction writer
• Fuyuhiko Kitagawa 北川冬彦, modernist poet and film critic
• Hakushū Kitahara 北原 白秋, pen-name of Kitahara Ryūkichi 北原 隆吉 (1885–1942), Taishō and Showa period tanka poet
• Kitamura Tokoku 北村透谷, pen-name of Kitamura Montaro (1868–1894) late Meiji period poet, essayist and a founder of the modern Japanese romantic literary movement
• Takeshi Kitano 北野 武 (born 1947), filmmaker, film editor, screenwriter, comedian, actor, author, poet and painter
• Kiyohara no Motosuke, 清原元輔 (908–990), one of the Five Men of the Pear Chamber
• Kobayashi Issa see Issa
• Kodai no Kimi 小大君, also "Ōkimi" (dates unknown), middle Heian period Waka poet and noble; one of five women among the Thirty-six Poetry Immortals; has many poems in imperial poetry anthologies
• Yakumo Koizumi 小泉八雲 see Lafcadio Hearn
• Mantarō Kubota 久保田万太郎 (1889–1963), author, playwright and poet
• Kūkai 空海, also known posthumously as "Kōbō-Daishi" 弘法大師 (774–835), monk, scholar, poet, and artist who founded the Shingon or "True Word" school of Buddhism, followers of that school usually refer to him by the honorific title "Odaishisama" お大師様
• Masao Kume 久米正雄 (1891–1952), late Taishō period and early Showa period playwright, novelist and haiku poet (under the pen-name of Santei)
• Kunikida Doppo 國木田 獨歩 (1871–1908), Meiji period romantic poet and one of the novelists who pioneered naturalism in Japan
• Sadako Kurihara 栗原貞子 (1913–2005), poet who survived the Hiroshima nuclear holocaust there and became known for her poems about her city
• Kyoshi Takahama 高浜 虚子, pen name of Kiyoshi Takahama (1874–1959), Shōwa period poet; close disciple of Masaoka Shiki