Introduction
scandalizing the respectable public with her frank admission of passion and desires. After the first shock was over, however, the public began to quote Akiko extensively. With the strength of Hiroshi’s support and the focus of public attention, Akiko’s creative energy reached its highest mark, and between the years 1901 and 1928, she published twenty-one volumes of poetry. That oft repeated statement that she outshone her husband seems unfair, for Hiroshi had a many-sided talent, and poetry was but one of his numerous interests.
The Yosanos started housekeeping in the suburbs of Tokyo, and in spite of their struggle to make both ends meet, they kept open house where penurious but highly inspired men of letters often gathered. What they lacked in material comfort, they made up in their enthusiasm and heated argument. As a discipline, they often spent evenings composing poems. Years later, one of the contributors of the Myojo wrote:
“Of course the Yosanos were the moving power of these poetry evenings. The facile pen and keen wit of Takuboku Ishikawa and Miss Yamagawa astonished us. The subjects given were to be merely suggestions to help concentrate our thoughts.
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