Also called KOBAYASHI YATARO, original name KOBAYASHIISSA (b. June 15, 1763, Kashiwabara, Shinano province,Japan--d. Jan. 5, 1828, Kashiwabara), Japanese poet whose works in simple, unadorned language captured the spiritual loneliness of the common man. Out of a life of tragic adversity he created a poetry of sentimental simplicity that endeared him to the Japanese people.

"Issa" Britannica Online.
<http://www.eb.com:180/cgi-bin/g?DocF=micro/296/61.html>
[Accessed 15 October 1998]