Poet and children’s song maker. He published the poetry collection Natsuhime at the age of 17 in 1905. After moving to Tokyo he set up Waseda Shisha and helped publish the poetry magazine Mirai (Future). In 1909, with the lyric poetry collection Haien (The Ruined Garden), he came to be fully recognized as a prominent poet. Taking one character from his name and one from the name of another popular poet, Kitahara Hakushu, people at the time began calling it the Hakuro Jidai (Hakuro Age). Gradually his style leaned towards symbolistic poetry, and he published Sabishiki Akebono (Lonely Dawn) in 1910. He then switched to religious poetry starting with Maboroshi no Denen (Garden City in a Dream) in 1915. He is also known for the lyrics of the children’s song Akatonbo (Red Dragonfly), composed by Yamada Kosaku.