Bashō's Journey for Oku no Hosomichi
- When
- 1689–1691
- Where
- Northeastern Honshū
- Episodes
- 1
In 1689, Matsuo Bashō departed Edo with Kawai Sora on a 150-day journey to the northern interior. This trip, taken to emulate Saigyō and renew his art, produced the haibun Oku no Hosomichi.
Episodes
Background and detail
Background. Matsuo Bashō, the most famous Japanese poet of the Edo period, was already recognized for his travel essays and haikai no renga. He sought to emulate the waka poet Saigyō by visiting sites mentioned in Saigyō's verse to renew his own artistic practice.
The Journey. Bashō and his student Kawai Sora left Edo in late spring 1689 for the northerly interior region known as Oku. The 150-day trip covered 600 ri (2,400 km) through the northeastern areas of Honshū, concluding with Bashō's return to Edo in late 1691.
Literary Legacy. The journey resulted in Oku no Hosomichi, a major work of haibun considered one of the major texts of Japanese literature of the Edo period. The text is written as a prose and verse travel diary documenting this epic and dangerous journey on foot.
People involved
- Matsuo Bashō · Poet and traveler
- Kawai Sora · Traveling companion and student
Sources
- Matsuo Bashō Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-26
- Oku no Hosomichi Wikipedia, revision of 2026-01-11
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.