Isamu Yoshii wrote in the introduction to his poetry collection Ningenkyo:
"In May 1931, I visited the land of Tosa for the first time. The sea was rough, but the sky was bright, and the scenery was so beautiful that my heart was drawn to it.”
The poem【On arrival at the Katsurahama beach, I watch in awe the Tosa sea.】on the monument is one of the "100 Tosa poems" written about the Katsura beach on this trip.
Yoshii Isamu (1886-1960) was a poet and playwright born in Tokyo.
His grandfather was Count Tomozane Yoshii, a samurai of the Satsuma clan.
In his early works, such as "Sakehogahi" and "Tokyo Koutoushu", Isamu sang of the sorrows of youth, establishing his own unique style of decadent poetry.
In later life as he traveled from place to place the tone of his voice changed.
In 1933, he separated from his wife and renounced his title.
The following year, Isamu went to Tosa and settled in seclusion in Inono town (today's Kohoku-cho).
His songs, such as "Ningen-kyo" (The Human Sutra) and "Amahiko", are full of melancholy.
In 1946, Isamu moved to the Kochi prefecture with his wife Takako, then the following year he left for Kyoto.
In the autumn of 1957, in commemoration of the completion of the Katsurahama Tourist Road (today's Hana Kaido), the Kochi Prefectural Transport Company (now the Tosaden Transport Company) erected a monument to Isamu Yoshii.
