Ikkyu (一休宗純 Ikkyū Sōjun) (1394-1481) was a Japanese Zen Buddhist priest and poet. He was also one of the creators of the formal Japanese tea ceremony.

Ikkyu was born during the Ashikaga shogunate, during the time known as the Muromachi period, when the capital of Japan back was restored to Kyoto from Kamakura. He was eventually named abbot of the seminal Daitokuji temple, placing him in one of the most important Zen lineages. In 1471, at the age of 77, Ikkyu fell in love with Mori, a blind woman over fifty years his junior. He died eleven years later.

Ikkyu is one of the most significant (and eccentric) figures in Zen history. To Japanese children, he is a folk hero, mischievous and always out-smarting his teachers and shogun. This is due to the very popular animated TV series "Ikkyu-san". In Rinzai Zen tradition, he is both heretic and saint. Ikkyu was among the few Zen priests who argued that his enlightenment was deepened by consorting with pavilion girls. He entered brothels wearing his black robes, since for him sexual intercourse was a religious rite. At the same time he warned Zen against its own bureaucratic politicising.

Ikkyu wrote in classical Chinese, as did some of the literary men in Japan at the time. His verse is immediate and poignant, insightful and at times moving. He is renowned as medieval Japan's greatest calligrapher. Additionally, Ikkyu painted with ink.

External links and references

• Unraveling Zen's Red Thread: Ikkyu's Controversial Way, Dr. Jon Carter Covell and Abbot Sobin Yamada, 1980, HollyM International, Elizabeth, New Jersey, ISBN 0-930878-19-1.
• Wild Ways: Zen Poems of Ikkyu, translated by John Stevens. Published by Shambala in Boston, 1995.