Satomura Joha (里村紹巴)
Joha SATOMURA (1525 - June 2, 1602) was a linked-verse-teacher 'Rengashi' during the Warring States period. He assumed the surname 'Satomura' in his adulthood and it is said that his original surname was the Matsui clan. He had pseudonyms Rinkosai and Hojuan. He was born in Nara City.
He studied composing linked verses 'Renga' under Shukei, and after the death of Shukei, he studied under Shokyu SATOMURA and inherited the Satomura family. Later, he had relationship with the court noble Kineda SANJONISHI, and a lot of military commanders Nobunaga ODA, Mitsuhide AKECHI, Hideyoshi TOYOTOMI, Nagayoshi MIYOSHI, Yusai HOSOKAWA, Yoshihisa SHIMAZU, and Yoshiaki MOGAMI and so on, and it is well-known that he participated in 'Atagohyakuin' conducted by Mitsuhide AKECHI in 1582. After the Incident of Honnoji, even though he was once suspected about his loyalty by Hideyoshi TOYOTOMI, he could escape the danger of being executed.
When the leading linked-verse teacher Soyo died, Joha SATOMURA became the leading figure in the linked-verse arena at the age of 40, but he was implicated in the Incident of Hidetsugu TOYOTOMI in 1595 and was placed under house arrest in front of Enjoji Temple (generally known as Mitsuidera Temple) in Omi Province. He stressed the importance on smoothness throughout the process of composing a linked verse; he wrote a collected papers on Renga "Renga Shihosho" and a lot of books including a book on administrative code, a dictionary of administrative code, and commentaries on classics, some of which including a commentary on "Genji Monogatari" "Johasho," and a commentary on "Sagoromo Monogatari""Shitahimo" are extant. He studied the style of poetry in "Kokinwakashu" under Taneie KONOE. Teitoku MATSUNAGA was one of his disciples.
Joha had relationship with the Jishu sect monks including Ikkado Joa, who was a linked-verse teacher of Yoshiaki MOGAMI; later in 1707, a descendant of the Satomura family became the 48th Yugyo Fukoku who succeeded to the head of the Jishu sect Yugyoshonin. The Satomura family served the head of the Tokugawa family and lead the linked-verse arena as Rengashi of the bakufu (Japanese feudal government headed by a shogun).