As a poet, potter, painter, martial artist, and Buddhist nun, Otagaki Rengetsu transformed a life of tragedy into one of artistic and spiritual transcendence, ultimately becoming one of Japan's greatest female poets.

This collection features a survey of her finest poetry accompanied by a sampling of her pottery and paintings. As never before, John Stevens captures the radiant and powerful simplicity of Rengetsu's life and art in this biography and new translation of her work.