Writing death poems is done by Japanese Zen monks and by many haiku poets as well as those who wish to write one. It was also an ancient custom in Japan for literate persons to compose a jisei on their deathbed.
One of earliest records of jisei was recited by Prince Ōtsu executed in 686. For examples of death poems, see the articles on the famous haiku poet Bashō, the Japanese Buddhist monk Ryōkan, Ōta Dōkan (builder of Edo Castle), and the Japanese woodblock master Tsukioka Yoshitoshi.
Some people left their jisei in multiple forms. Prince Ōtsu made both waka and kanshi, Sen no Rikyu made both kanshi and kyoka.
A death poem sometimes took on an aspect of a will, reconciling differences between persons.
