SAITO MOKICHI

Saito, born Moriya, Mokichi was a bright son of a Yamagata Prefecture farmer who was raised by a relative in Tokyo to be a doctor. He studied medicine in Vienna and Munich for four years and was a practicing psychiatrist. He was a founding member of the poetry journal Araragi (The Yew). Saito’s works comprise 17 anthologies of poems, including his renowned first collection Shakko (1913; tr. Red Lights, 1989). As Akutagawa Ryunosuke’s family doctor, he is also known for having assisted in Akutagawa’s suicide. He won both the Yomiuri Prize and the Order of Cultural Merit. Author Kita Morio is Saito’s second son.

See also ITO SACHIO; MYOJO; TANKA; YOSANO AKIKO; YOSANO TEKKAN.