This week, we delve into the life, legacy, and style of Matsuo Basho, Japan’s most famous poet. Who was he? How did he develop his unique style? How did Japan’s most famous haiku poet end up writing before the invention of the word “haiku”? All that and more!
Sources
Ueda, Makoto. Basho and His Interpreters.
Carter, Steven D. Haiku Before Haiku: From the Renga Masters to Basho.
Carter, Steven D. “On a Bare Branch: Basho and the Haikai Profession.” Journal of the American Oriental Society 117, No 1 (Jan-March, 1997)
Images
Matsuo Basho, as depicted by Hokusai.
Bronze equestrian Basho statue in Nasu, Tochigi.
Basho meeting with two farmers celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival. From Yoshitoshi’s 100 Aspects of the Moon series, early Meiji.
A painting of Basho on horseback by one of Basho’s students (Sugiyama Sanpu).
An example of Basho’s propensity for mixing images with poetry. The Hokku/Haiku here reads:
Yellow rose petals
thunder—
a waterfall
Basho in the garden of his hut. His banana tree (the original Basho) is to the right.
A bronze statue of Basho in Otsu city, Shiga Prefecture.
