Makoto ¿oka (1931-2017) was the premier poet and critic of his generation in Japan and known abroad as an emissary of Japanese poetry and culture. By the time ¿oka was twenty-five, his first books-one of poems and one of criticism-had established him as a spokesman for contemporary poetry. He often visited Europe, Asia, and the United States, introducing Japanese poetry traditional and modern to foreign audiences through readings and lectures at the Collège de France, Harvard, Columbia, and Princeton Universities, and literary festivals. A major area of activity was linked verse, based on the traditional Japanese poetic form of renga. In the 1970s, ¿oka began experiments with this collaborative form in Japan and his pioneering endeavors soon brought him into contact with poets around the world. ¿oka's works have also been translated into Chinese, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Korean, Macedonian, and Spanish.