Ayako Kōsaki (神前あや子)

BIOGRAPHY

Ayako Kōsaki was born in Kyoto, Japan, on June 9, 1914, as the daughter of a physician. She was the second of five siblings and the eldest daughter.

She enrolled at Kyoto Prefectural First Girls’ High School (commonly known as “Fuichi”) but left before graduating and, at her parents’ recommendation, married a physician who later became a medical college professor.

Influenced by her father, Dr. Iwao Matsuo (1882–1963), a medical doctor and professor at Kyoto Imperial University who was also a haiku poet, and by her mother, Shizuko, who likewise wrote haiku, she developed a love of haiku during her high school years. By 1935, she had already submitted several haiku to literary magazines.

After giving birth to her first daughter in 1940, she went on to have four children in total and gradually set haiku aside while raising her family. In 1966, however, her passion was reignited when her eldest son, then a high school sophomore, asked for her advice on a haiku assignment over the summer holidays. This marked her full return to the art of haiku after 25 years. She joined the “Tanabata Haiku Group” and began submitting poems to Hototogisu, a long-established haiku magazine, as well as to Tamamo, a literary journal known as a prominent platform for women poets. Eventually, four members of her family—her father, mother, herself, and her younger brother—were all recognized as contributing members.

Through haiku, she recorded in dozens of notebooks the growth of her children, moments of joy, experiences of loss, and impressions from her travels. She later reflected that haiku allowed her to “stay deeply connected with the beauty of nature and live a life enriched in spirit.”

In Hototogisu and Tamamo, she not only published haiku but also short essays about her family, which revealed her literary spirit and affectionate character.

Beyond her literary activities, she established a marriage consultation service for alumnae of her former school, through which she helped arrange many marriages. She was also active in a women’s choir, and her days were filled with commitments that kept her constantly on the move. In fact, she was so rarely at home that the police once contacted her eldest son’s family, who lived in another prefecture, to confirm whether she was still alive. This incident has since become a lighthearted story fondly remembered within her family.

Her diet was primarily Japanese, with a focus on fish and vegetables. Although she enjoyed sweets, she was careful with portion sizes, usually limiting herself to one or half of a manju, valuing moderation.

After the onset of her illness at 88, she moved into a nursing home but continued writing haiku until around the age of 100. For her 105th birthday, she was granted permission to go out and celebrated at a restaurant with her family.

She was a petite woman, about 150 cm tall, and ate modestly, but her intellectual curiosity, love of literature, and cheerful, energetic personality supported her well into old age.

She currently resides in Kamigyō Ward, Kyoto City.

RECOGNITION

In September 2025, she was reported as the third-oldest living person in Kyoto Prefecture, after Fuyo Kishimoto and an anonymous lady.

Her age was verified by Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare (MHLW), as well as Ryohei Asano, and Yumi Yamamoto, and validated by LongeviQuest on 23 September 2024.

ATTRIBUTION

(All information regarding Ayako Kōsaki (神前あや子)’s biography was gathered through interviews conducted by LongeviQuest with her family.)

GALLERY

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