Ryōkan Taigu’s poetry is marked above all by simplicity and directness. He favors plain, unadorned language that remains accessible to ordinary people, avoiding ornate literary conventions, elaborate metaphors, or heavy doctrinal jargon. This stylistic restraint allows his verses to feel unpretentious and transparent, as if they were spoken in everyday conversation rather than crafted for a courtly audience. The result is a body of work that appears modest on the surface yet quietly carries a profound spiritual resonance grounded in Zen practice.

Nature and daily life form the primary field of his imagery. Seasonal changes, flowers, birds, wind, rain, and the small details of rural existence appear again and again, not as decorative background but as vehicles for insight into impermanence, emptiness, and the beauty of the ordinary. Scenes of begging for food, living in a simple hut, or playing with village children are rendered with a gentle clarity that makes spiritual realization tangible rather than abstract. In this way, the natural world and the most commonplace activities become transparent to Zen understanding.

A distinctive feature of his style is a childlike directness, often tinged with humility and gentle humor. The poetic voice does not present itself as a lofty sage but as an ordinary, vulnerable human being, capable of loneliness, sadness, and self-deprecating wit. This emotional honesty coexists with a sense of wonder, reflecting the Zen ideal of beginner’s mind and a spontaneous, unforced approach to experience. Many poems read almost like private jottings or intimate notes to friends and villagers, which lends them an immediacy that is both personal and universal.

Formally, Ryōkan often works within traditional Japanese structures such as tanka and shorter lyric forms, yet he treats them with a freedom that emphasizes naturalness and authenticity over rigid polish. The poems frequently feel fresh and unvarnished, as though they arose directly from the moment of perception rather than from prolonged literary refinement. This unpolished quality is not a lack of craft but an aesthetic choice aligned with Zen values of non-artifice and spontaneity. Through this combination of simplicity, natural imagery, emotional candor, and understated Zen insight, his poetry speaks with a quiet depth that continues to invite contemplative reading.