Which 20th-century Japanese poet is known for free-form haiku and a wandering lifestyle?

Taneda Santōka is the 20th-century Japanese poet known for free-form haiku and a wandering lifestyle.

Born in 1882, Santōka began writing conventional haiku before becoming a disciple of Ogiwara Seisensui, a leading reformer of free-form haiku. This newer style rejected strict 5-7-5 sound patterns and often omitted the traditional seasonal word, or kigo.

Santōka’s life became increasingly itinerant after personal and financial crises, including the collapse of his family’s sake brewery. In 1925 he was ordained in the Sōtō Zen tradition, and from 1926 he undertook long walking journeys, often wearing a straw hat and begging for food and lodging. His poems transform these travels, loneliness, rain, hunger, and ordinary encounters into direct, conversational verse.

He is sometimes confused with Ozaki Hōsai, another major free-form haiku poet and fellow student of Seisensui. Santōka died in 1940, leaving behind several influential collections.