Mori Ōgai
Yoshii enrolled briefly in the School of Political Science and Economics at Waseda University in 1908, but dropped out the same year to join Yosano Tekkan's "Tokyo Shin-shi Sha" ("Tokyo New Poetry Society"), and began contributing his "tanka" verses to the society's literary magazine, "Myōjō" ("Bright Star"). As a member of the "Myōjō" inner circle, he met and was influenced by Mori Ōgai, Ueda Bin, and Kitahara Hakushū.