KYORAI, original name Mukai Kanetoki, (also called Rakushisha), was the son of a physician to a royal Japanese family. He first trained as a samurai, but at age 23 he gave up martial service and turned to the writing of poetry. In 1684 he made the acquaintance of Takarai Kikaku, a disciple of Basho, and shortly thereafter Kyorai also became a disciple. He sought to write poems in which every word was necessary and none could be changed without destroying the poem's meaning.