(b 1694; d 1764). Japanese poet and calligrapher. She was the adopted daughter of the famous KAJI, who ran the Matsuya tea house in Kyoto and was also a waka (31-syllable classical verse) poet. Yuri's original family name may have been Kimura. Her initial training in waka and calligraphy came from her mother. Yuri was said to be exceptionally intelligent, and the courtier-poet Reizei Tamemura took a special interest in her and became her mentor. Both her poetry and her relaxed and fluid style of calligraphy reveal her strong personality. Nature was her preferred subject. In 1727, 159 of her poems were published in the Sayuri ba ('Leaves from a small lily'). The scholar and poet Rai San'yo wrote her biography, exhorting other women to follow her example. She was the mother of the painter Ike Gyokuran (see IKE, (2)).
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