Hattori Ransetsu (1654 – 1707) was an Edo samurai who became a haikai poet under the guidance of Matsuo Bashō.
[1] R. H. Blyth considered Ransetsu to be Bashō's most representative follower.
[2] Ransetsu's poetry is low-keyed and austere, reflecting the sabi aspect of Bashō's writing,[3] but showing a real empathy with all living creatures.
[4] A critical contemporary called him "a man of small calibre...he seems to have flowers, but has no fruit".
[5] R. H. Blyth would later partially concur, saying that "even his death verse, beautiful and justly famous as it is, has something nerveless about it: A leaf falls, Totsu!