Matsuo Basho once wrote, “Each day is a journey, and the journey itself home.” He was a master poet and this his first entry among many in his masterpiece Oku no Hosomichi, or Narrow Road to a Far Province.

He is perhaps Japan’s most revered poet and these words echo along the 1,200 mile route he followed through his homeland in 1689. Joined by his friend and disciple Sora, carrying nothing more than a backpack, writing materials, and extra clothing, Basho conquered the extensive trail, a man moving without direction.

His journey lasted a total of five months, moving through uplands and lowlands and along the shore of the Sea of Japan. Basho was a Buddhist and this journey a spiritual one. Leaving behind all his worldly possessions, he cast his fate to the winds and provided the world with a vivid portrait of Japan through his masterwork, Narrow Road to a Far Province.

Though time has changed many of the stops along Basho’s 1,200 mile journey, the natural wonders encompassing them remain pure. Sharing a trail with the master of the haiku and walking amongst the numerous Buddhist temples which line its extensive length would be an epic journey, a pilgrimage. Basho was the hyohakusha–”one who moves without direction.”

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There we did begin,

Cloistered in the waterfall,

Our summer discipline.

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Sadly, I part from you;

Like a clam torn from its shell,

I go, and autumn too.

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Listen! a frog

Jumping into the stillness

Of an ancient pond!

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Lonely silence,

a single cicada’s cry

sinking into stone.

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This ruined temple

Should have its sad tale told only

By a clam digger.

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Crossing half the sky,

On my way to the capital,

Big clouds promise snow

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