Chikamatsu Monzaemon
Professional female entertainers ("geisha"), music, popular stories, "Kabuki" (theater) and "bunraku" (puppet theater), poetry, a rich literature, and art, exemplified by beautiful woodblock prints (known as "ukiyo-e"), were all part of this flowering of culture. Literature also flourished with the talented examples of the playwright Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1653–1724) and the poet, essayist, and travel writer Matsuo Bashō (1644–94).