When the Dutch “Kapitan” comes to greet the Shogun in Edo in Spring. 甲比丹も. つくばはせけり . 君が春 kapitan mo . tsu kuba wasekeri . kimi ga haru    the Red (Dutch) Captain, when he comes, cowering before his Master each Spring Tosei (Matsuo Basho), Spring 1678 Wisely Each Spring, the Dutch made a long winding procession to pay homage to the Shogun in Edo. The procession began in Nagasaki, the only port open to Dutch trade. The first known procession was in 1627. At the front, in a carriage, carried on the shoulders of six men, was Pieter Nuyts, the designated Dutch councilor of the Indie ..read more

Cherry Blossoms in Edo, Spring, 1681-2 Basho, age 37-38 In 17th century Edo, women’s fashions are changing. Drunk on blossoms a woman in a haori, pointing with a sword 花に酔えり 羽織着て刀 さす女 Hana ni yoeri haori kite katana sasu onna Hana ni ee ri haori kite katana sasu onna Matsuo Basho, Edo, 1681-2 Translation. Hana (flower, here meaning a cherry blossom) ni (particle to indicate cause) yoeri (to become drunk) haori (a short jacket, women wear over a kimono) kite (wearing) katana (sword) sasu (pointing, stabbing) onna (woman) Cross-Dressing Japan was unified under the Tokugawa clan. War was over. P ..read more

1st year of Genroku, Spring of 1688, Basho is 45 years old, Mt. Yamato Katsuragi Always seeing within a flower at the break of dawn — the face of God Matsuo Basho, Oi no kibumi, Spring 1685 From the travelogue, Oi no kobumi, a trip from Edo to Iga-Ueno (Basho’s hometown), then to Mt. Yamato Kasuragi in Nara prefecture. In Spring, Bashō came to Mt. Katsuragi to see the cherry blossoms. Near the Shinto shrine for the local god, Hitokotonushi, he wrote this haiku: 猶みたし 花に明行 神の顔 nao mitashi | always seeing within      hana ni ake yuku | a flower at the break of dawn              kami no kao | th ..read more

Likely composed in Kyoto, 7th year of the Kanbun era, 1667, age 24. Perhaps, it was windy. An East wind, ah swaying in every direction — willowy hair あち東風や . 面々さばき . 柳 髪 Achi kochi ya . menmen sabaki . yanagi gami Matsuo Basho, Kyoto, 1667, age 24 Meanwhile Here in middle America, last week was unseasonably warm. The weatherman celebrated March first as the first day of Spring. It was a beautiful day for walk in the park with the dogs off leash. A gentle breeze stirring thoughts of Spring. For the young poet (not yet known as Basho), three years had passed since the death of Todo Yoshitada, h ..read more

Kanbun year 4, 1664 Matsuo Kinsaku (Basho), age 20 or 21, Kyoto in Spring? Fading beauty, she blossoms in old age — her memories 姥桜 咲くや 老後の 思い出 uba-sakura saku ya rougo no omoide ubazakura saku ya rougo no omoi-ide Matsuo Kinsaku (Basho), Spring 1664, age 20 or 21 Notes on Translation ubazakura (ubasakura) is a particular kind of cherry tree. In Spring, its blossoms appear on leafless branches. It is a metaphor for a woman who is old but still attractive. uba-sakura (“a faded beauty,” a combination of nursing mother and sakura, cherry blossom) saku (to bloom) ya (emphasis) rougo (old age) no ..read more

Fukagawa, just outside Edo Spring of 1681 It had been eight years since our poet (he was not yet called Matsuo Basho) took the momentous step of moving to Edo. Tired of the noise and the crowds, and wanting peace and quiet, he moved to rural Fukagawa, to a simple cottage. There to study and think, to become someone new. The gift of a banana plant (basho) was welcome, but not the silvergrass that grew up alongside it. by the banana just planted a sign of something disgusting — perhaps silvergrass ばしょう植ゑてまづ憎む荻の二葉哉 bashō uete mazu nikumu ogi no futaba kana    Matsuo Basho, Fukaga ..read more

A week at the beach during Spring Break, near Sarasota, Florida, my God, the cars, the crowds, no peace. “To philosophize is To learn To die.” Michel Montaigne, French . Haiku — To see the world In lines of three. … The sun, the sand, The wind, the waves I finally reached the beach. . On Casey Key, Poor Pyrrho of Ellis Couldn’t afford to stay — Basho no yona Casey Key Previously, two plus millennia ago, back in the Peloponnesus… Pyrrho of Elis (4th c. BC) was an Ancient Greek philosopher who disdained wealth and luxury and preached the philosophy of ataraxia, by suspending judgment about belie ..read more

Winter is quickly passing. Life moves on, but not for all. Bashō no yōna idolizes Matsuo Basho, so, like his idol, he goes to school, taking a philosophy class at Wichita State University. Along the way, he passes the “Tres Mujeres Caminando,” a sculpture by Francisco Zuñiga (1981). I stopped to watch Three women walking, Not talking Bashō no yōna, March 2024 What is the meaning of the bronze? That is for each of us to say. “Tres Mujeres Caminando” by Costa Rican-born Mexican artist Francisco Zuñiga (1981 ..read more

Written in the 8th year of Enpo (延宝8年), 1680, Basho age 37. The following two haiku were likely written in Edo at a tea ceremony where charcoal is use to heat the tea and charcoal is also use to write down the poems by the participants in a renga party. Multiple puns are employed. 消炭に薪割る音かをのの奥　　 keshi-zumi | making charcoal ni maki waru oto ka | by splitting wood, the sound of Ono no oku | the back alleys of Ono? (the back of an axe) Matsuo Basho, Winter 1680 keshi-zumi (making coal) ni (by) maki (firewood, compare makiware, an axe for wood cutting) waru (splitting) oto (sound) ka (?) Ono no ..read more

Buddhist, Shinto, Tao — the question often asked is, what religion did Matsuo Basho follow? Matsuo Basho studied Buddhism and Buddhist like to claim him for their own, saying he studied under Butcho. And Basho emulated the Buddhist monk Saiygo in his travel and reclusive lifestyle. But that is not to say that he was curious about the world about him. Often he visited Shinto shrines as well as Buddhist ones. 古人の跡をもと めず、古人の求たる所を.もとめよ kojin no ato wo motomezu, kozjin no motometaru tokoro wo motomeyo “Don’t follow in the footsteps of the old masters’ footsteps, seek what they sought.” Basho said ..read more