A Thousand Strands of Black Hair

The turbulent lives and passionate relationship of two radical Japanese poets are explored in this intimate and personal biography.

This book tells the story of the turbulent lives of Akiko Yosano (1878–1942) and Tekkan Yosano (1873–1935), two poets who sparked a revolution in the world of Japanese classical poetry.

This book examines and re-imagines the turbulent and intertwined lives of Akiko Yosano (1878–1942) and Tekkan Yosano (1873–1935), two poets who sparked a revolution in the world of Japanese ‘tanka’ (short-verse classical poetry). The author explores their passionate and at times tormented relationship, using documentary sources and their poetry along with her own storytelling abilities in order to evoke the intimate details of their lives, together and apart.