Samukawa was born in
Matsuyama (now in
Ehime Prefecture) on November 3, 1875. He became a student at
Daisan Kōtō gakkō (now
Kyoto University) in 1894. Samukawa met Kawahigashi Hekigotō and
Takahama Kyoshi at this school. He fell under their influence and took part in . Samukawa was so absorbed in writing haiku that in the end, he dropped out of the school. He worked at the
Kyoto Newspaper and the
Osaka Asahi Newspaper and continued to contribute haiku to the magazine
Hototogisu even while he worked. Samukawa went to
Tokyo and joined the staff of the newspaper
Nippon in 1898. He met the journalist
Kuga Katsunan and
Masaoka Shiki there. Samukawa became Shiki's pupil and studied the narrative prose, or the sketch in prose, that Shiki propounded. After Shiki's death, Samukawa stopped writing
Hokku poetry and concentrated on writing prose, travel sketches and essays. He devoted the rest of his life from 1911 onwards to keeping Shiki's house and estate. == Works ==