Born in 1878 as the third daughter of the long-established Suruga-ya Japanese confectionery in Sakai, Osaka; her birth name was Ho Sho. She met the poet Yosano Tekkan in 1900 and in 1901 left home for Tokyo, joined his Shinshisha, and published 'Midaregami' (Tangled Hair, 1901). Its bold celebration of female selfhood and desire became a monument of Meiji Romanticism. That same year she married Tekkan. In September 1904, worried for her younger brother at the siege of Port Arthur, she published the anti-war poem 'Thou Shalt Not Die' in 'Myojo.' She bore twelve children with Tekkan. In 1911 she contributed to 'Seito,' and in 1912 travelled to Paris. She produced three complete modern-Japanese translations of 'The Tale of Genji' and helped found Bunka Gakuin. She died in Ogikubo, Tokyo, in 1942, aged 64.

Passionate, unrestrained, and iron-willed. Unafraid of feudal morality, she sang selfhood and sensuality at full voice. She raised twelve children while never setting down her pen, and gave active engagement to women's liberation, anti-militarism, and education.

'Midaregami' opened the expression of women in modern tanka. 'Thou Shalt Not Die' is a representative anti-war poem of modern Japanese verse. The Sakai Risho no Mori memorial preserves her life and work.