Travis Belrose was inspired to write The Samurai Poet after repeated visits to Shisendo convinced him that there was far more to Ishikawa Jozan's life than tourist pamphlets and biographical sketches indicated. By using fictionalized biography to stretch the novel form, he has endeavoured to combine the best of history and fiction to tell Ishikawa's story. He currently resides in Canada where he is at work on his next novel.