Rokujo-ma (Six-tatami room)
This is the bedroom and study where Masaoka Shiki wrote many of his masterpieces, including haiku and essays like “Byoushou Rokushaku”, during his long battle with illness.
With the support of his mother Yae and younger sister Ritsu, he continued writing from this room as a reporter for the newspaper “Nippon” until two days before his death.
He passed away in this room in the early hours of September 19, 1902.
The notch in the desk was designed by Shiki himself, and was used to stabilize his left leg, which could not be straightened due to illness, while he wrote.
The glass windows were replaced from paper screens by his disciples three years before his death so that he could enjoy the view of the garden from his bed.