![]() A later hypothesis is that he was chosen to serve as page ( koshō ) to Yoshitada, with alternative documentary evidence suggesting he started serving at a younger age. It is claimed he served as cook or a kitchen worker in some near-contemporaneous accounts, but there is no conclusive proof. In his late teens, Bashō became a servant to Tōdō Yoshitada ( 藤堂 良忠) most likely in some humble capacity, and probably not promoted to full samurai class. The Matsuo were a major ninja family, and Bashō was trained ninjutsu. The Matsuo family was of samurai descent, and his father was probably a musokunin ( 無足人), a class of landowning peasants granted certain privileges of samurai. ![]() Matsuo Bashō was born in 1644, near Ueno, in Iga Province. His poems were influenced by his firsthand experience of the world around him, often encapsulating the feeling of a scene in a few simple elements.īashō's supposed birthplace in Iga Province. He made a living as a teacher but then renounced the social, urban life of the literary circles and was inclined to wander throughout the country, heading west, east, and far into the northern wilderness to gain inspiration for his writing. Where I show who I really am is in linking haikai verses." īashō was introduced to poetry at a young age, and after integrating himself into the intellectual scene of Edo (modern Tokyo) he quickly became well known throughout Japan. He is quoted as saying, "Many of my followers can write hokku as well as I can. Although Bashō is famous in the West for his hokku, he himself believed his best work lay in leading and participating in renku. Matsuo Bashō's poetry is internationally renowned, and, in Japan, many of his poems are reproduced on monuments and traditional sites. He is also well known for his travel essays beginning with Records of a Weather-Exposed Skeleton (1684), written after his journey west to Kyoto and Nara. During his lifetime, Bashō was recognized for his works in the collaborative haikai no renga form today, after centuries of commentary, he is recognized as the greatest master of haiku (then called hokku). We waited anxiously.Matsuo Bashō ( 松尾 芭蕉, 1644 – Novemborn Matsuo Kinsaku, then Matsuo Chūemon Munefusa ) was the most famous poet of the Edo period in Japan. We were concerned that the smoke in the skies from the wildfires would prevent us from seeing the full moon. This Basho haiku, taken from oku no hoso michi (The narrow road to the deep north), was read by Malcolm: ( Ukimidou is a small temple on Lake Biwa.)īasho is the renowned haiku poet of the Edo period who in later life became a wanderer most notably in the ‘north’ of Honshu. This haiku, written by Matsuo Basho (1644-1694), was read by John: Several members of the group read haiku in Japanese and English: ![]() This custom is still popular today in Japan. It became very popular among poets to have gatherings or contests for haiku reading under the harvest moon. You would find many stories of this event in old collections of tanka poems, diaries and/or famous tales such as The Tale of Genji or The Tales of the Bamboo Cutter-the Princess Kaguya.īy the time of the Edo period, about 350 years ago, commoners also had a moon viewing party to celebrate and thank nature for their harvest. Traditionally, otsukimi is held on the fifteenth night (Jugo Ya) of the eighth month of the lunar calendar.ĭating back to 1100 years ago, and influenced by Chinese culture, the court people had a moon viewing party with poem readings, playing music, and also enjoying sake. On the occasion of the September meigetsu (harvest moon) a band of friendship society ‘wanderers’ met at Lakeside Park Nelson, for otsukimi (moon viewing), haiku reading and manju (what, no sake?)
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