Fukuda Chiyo-ni (福田 千代尼, 1703 - 2 October 1775) or Kaga no Chiyo (加賀 千代女) was a Japanese poet of the Edo period and a Buddhist nun. She is widely regarded as one of the greatest poets of haiku (then called hokku). Some of Chiyo's best works include The Morning Glory, Putting up my hair, and Again the women. Being one of the few women haiku poets in pre-modern Japanese literature, Chiyo-ni has been seen an influential figure. Before her time, haiku by women were often dismissed and ignored. She began writing Haiku at seven and by age seventeen she had become very popular all over Japan and she continued writing throughout her life. Influenced by the renowned poet Matsuo Bashō but emerging and as independent figure with a unique voice in her own right, Chiyo-ni dedication toward her career not only paved a way for her career but it also opened a path for other women to follow. Chiyo-ni is known as a "forerunner, who played the role of encouraging international cultural exchange". She is perhaps best known for this haiku: Today, the morning glory is a favorite flower for the people of her home town, because she left a number of poems on that flower. Shokouji temple in Hakusan contains a display of her personal effects. Biography Chiyo-ni was born in Matto, Kaga Province (now Hakusan, Ishikawa Prefecture), in February 1703, the eldest daughter of a scroll mounter. At an early age, Chiyo-ni was introduced to art and poetry, and she began writing haiku poetry at the age of seven. By the age of seventeen, she had become very popular all over Japan for her poetry. Her poems, although mostly dealing with nature, work for a unity of nature with humanity. Her own life was that of the haikai poets who made their lives and the world they lived in one with themselves, living a simple and humble life. She was able to make connections by being observant and carefully studying the unique things around her ordinary world and writing them down. At age twelve, Chiyo-ni's studied under two haiku poets who had themselves apprenticed with the great poet Matsuo Bashō, and many in her time saw her as one of Bashō's true heirs, both in her poetry and in her humble attitude of warm awareness toward the world and her simple living. She studied Basho's style of