Kyōshi

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For the martial art title of the same name, see Japanese honorifics.

Kyōshi (狂詩) is a form of Japanese poetry using only Chinese characters which was popular around 1770-1800. Kyōshi avoids typical poetic forms, and often includes humorous expressions and puns on alternate readings or meanings of the same characters.

Mostly written by low-ranking samurai and chōnin (townspeople), the form is closely related to kyōka (comic waka), and to kyōbun, a form of prose writing which also uses only Chinese characters.

Ōta Nampo is the most well-known of kyōshi poets; the form was very popular for a short time, but declined quickly and disappeared after the turn of the 19th century.

References

Frederic, Louis (2002). "Japan Encyclopedia." Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.

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