Masaoka Shiki - Later Life

Later Life

Shiki suffered from tuberculosis (TB) much of his life. In 1888 or 1889 he began coughing up blood and soon adopted the pen-name Shiki from the Japanese hototogisu, which is a word usually translated as cuckoo. It is a Japanese conceit that this bird coughs blood as it sings, which explains why the name "Shiki" was adopted.

Already suffering from the early symptoms of TB, Shiki sought work as a war correspondent in the First Sino-Japanese war and, while eventually obtaining his goal, he arrived in China after the April 17, 1895, signing of the Treaty of Shimonoseki. Instead of reporting on the war, he spent an unpleasant time harassed by Japanese soldiers in Dalian, Luangtao, and the Lüshunkou District, meeting on 10 May 1895 the famous novelist Mori Ōgai, who was at the time an army doctor.

Living in filthy conditions in China apparently worsened his TB. Shiki continued to cough blood throughout his return voyage to Japan and was hospitalized in Kobe. After being discharged, he returned to his home town of Matsuyama city and convalesced in the home of the famed novelist Natsume Sōseki. During this time he took on disciples and promulgated a style of haiku that emphasized gaining inspiration from personal experiences of nature. Still in Matsuyama in 1897, a member of this group, Yanigihara Kyokudō, established a haiku magazine, Hototogisu, an allusion to Shiki's pen name. Operation of this magazine was quickly moved to Tokyo. Takahama Kyoshi, another disciple, assumed control and the magazine's scope was extended to include prose work.

Shiki also came to Tokyo, and his group of disciples there were known as the "Nippon school" after the paper of which he had been haiku editor and that now published the group's work.

Although already bedridden by 1897, Shiki's disease worsened further around 1901. He developed Pott's disease, and began using morphine as a painkiller. By 1902 he may have been relying heavily on the drug. During this time Shiki wrote three autobiographical works. He died of TB in 1902 at age 35.