Bōsha Kawabata

Kawabata Bōsha (川端 茅舎; August 17, 1897 – ) was a Japanese haiku poet.

Life Kawabata Bōsha was born on August 17, 1897, in Nihonbashi, Tokyo. He was the son of an amateur haiku poet, painter, and calligrapher, and the younger brother or half-brother of the painter Kawabata Ryūshi. His parents ran a geisha house when he was a child, prompting Kawabata to develop puritanical and reclusive tendencies.

When his family home was destroyed in the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake, Kawabata took up residence in the Tōfuku-ji in Kyoto, where he studied Zen Buddhism for four years. He also studied painting under Kishida Ryūsei until the latter's death in 1929. He eventually gave up both Buddhism and painting due to illness. In 1931 he developed tuberculosis of the spine and was bedridden for the remainder of his life.