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Matsuo Bashō (松尾 芭蕉, 1644 – 28 November 1694) was the most famous poet of the Edo period in Japan. During his lifetime, Bashō was renowned for his works in the collaborative haikai no renga form; today, he is recognized as a master of brief and clear haiku.

Early life

Bashō was born Matsuo Kinsaku (松尾 金作) in roughly 1644, somewhere near Ueno in Iga Province. His father may have been a low-ranking samurai, which would have promised Bashō a career in the military but not much chance of a notable life. However, in his childhood Bashō became a servant to Tōdō Yoshitada (藤堂 良忠), who shared with Bashō a love for haikai, a sort of cooperative poetry composition. The sequences were opened with a verse in the 5-7-5 mora format; this verse was named a hokku, and would later be renamed haiku when presented as standalone works. The hokku would be followed by with a related 7-7 addition by another poet. Both Tōdō and Bashō gave themselves haigo, or haikai pen names; Bashō's was Sōbō (宗房), and he was also given the samurai name of Matsuo Munefusa (松尾 宗房). In 1662 the first extant poem by Bashō was published; in 1664 two of his hokku were printed in a compilation, and in 1665 Bashō and Yoshitada composed a one-hundred-verse renku with some acquaintances.

Unfortunately, Yoshitada's sudden death in 1666 brought Bashō's peaceful life as a servant to an end. No records of this time remain, but it is believed that Bashō gave up the possibility of samurai status and left his home. Biographers have proposed various reasons and destinations, including the fanciful possibility of an affair between Bashō and a Shinto miko named Jutei. Bashō's own references to this time are vague; he recalled that "at one time I coveted an official post with a tenure of land", and that "there was a time when I was fascinated with the ways of homosexual love", but there is no indication whether he was referring to real obsessions or even fictional ones. He was even conflicted over whether to become a full-time poet; by his own account, "the alternatives battled in my mind and made my life restless." His indecision may have been influenced by the then still relatively low status of renga and haikai no renga as more social activities than serious artistic endeavours. In any case, his poems continued to be published in anthologies in 1667, 1669, and 1671, and he published his own compilation of various authors, Seashell Game (貝おほひ, Kai Ōi), in 1672. In roughly the spring of that year he moved to Edo to further his study of poetry.

Rise to fame

In Edo, Bashō's poetry was quickly recognized for its simple and natural style. He gave himself the haigo of Tōsei and by 1680 he had a full-time job teaching twenty disciples who published The Best Poems of Tōsei's Twenty Disciples (桃青門弟独吟二十歌仙, Tōsei-montei Dokugin-Nijukasen), advertising their connection to Tōsei's talent. That winter, his disciples built him a rustic hut and planted a banana tree (芭蕉, bashō) in the yard, giving Bashō a new haigo and his first permanent home. He wrote this hokku in mock-tribute to the Shogun:

kabitan mo / tsukubawasekeri / kimi ga haru

the Dutchmen, too, / kneel before His Lordship-- / spring under His reign.

With this success, however, grew dissatisfaction and loneliness. He began practicing Zen meditation but apparently it did not soothe his fears. In the winter of 1682 the hut burned down, and his mother died early in 1683. He then travelled to Yamura to stay with a friend. In the winter of 1683 his disciples gave him a second hut in Edo, but his spirits did not improve. Instead, after publishing another compilation, Shrivelled Chestnuts (虚栗, Minashiguri), he left Edo in 1684 on the first of four major aimless wanderings.

Travelling in medieval Japan was immensely dangerous, and at first Bashō expected to simply die in the middle of nowhere or be killed by bandits. As the trip progressed, his mood improved and he became comfortable on the road. He met many friends and grew to enjoy the changing scenery and the seasons. His poems took on a less introspective and more striking tone as he observed the world around him:

uma wo sae / nagamuru yuki no / ashita kana

even a horse / arrests my eyes--on this / snowy morrow

The trip took him from Edo to Mount Fuji to Ueno and Kyoto. He met several poets who called themselves his disciples and wanted his advice; he told them to disregard the contemporary Edo style and even his own Shrivelled Chestnuts, saying it contained "many verses that are not worth discussing." He returned to Edo in the summer of 1685, taking time along the way to write more hokku and comment on his own life:

toshi kurenu / kasa kite waraji / hakinagara

another year is gone / a traveller's shade on my head, / straw sandals at my feet

When Bashō returned to Edo he happily resumed his job as a teacher of poetry at his Bashō Hut, although privately he was already making plans for another journey. The poems from his journey were published as Account of a Weather-beaten Skeleton (野ざらし紀行, Nozarashi kikō). In early 1686 he composed one of his best-remembered hokku:

furuike ya / kawazu tobikomu / mizu no oto

the old pond / a frog jumps in-- / water's sound

Apparently this poem became instantly famous: by April the poets of Edo gathered at the Bashō Hut for a haikai no renga contest on the subject of frogs that seems to have been a tribute to Bashō's hokku, which was placed at the top of the compilation. Bashō stayed in Edo, continuing to teach and hold contests, with an excursion in the autumn of 1687 when he travelled to the countryside for moon watching, and a longer trip in 1688 when he returned to Ueno to celebrate the Lunar New Year. As long as he stayed in his eponymous hut, Bashō would constantly be worrying about inviting over too many visitors and his perceived "idleness". At the same time, he enjoyed his life and had a subtle sense of humor, as reflected in his hokku:

iza saraba / yukimi ni korobu / tokoromade

now then, let's go out / to enjoy the snow... until / I slip and fall!

Oku no Hosomichi

Bashō's private planning for another long journey culminated on 16 May 1689, when he left with his student Kawai Sora on a trip to the Northern Provinces. Bashō and Sora headed north to Hiraizumi, which they reached on June 29. They then walked to the western side of the country, touring Kisakata on July 30, and began hiking back at a leisurely pace along the coastline. He completed the log of his journey, The Narrow Road to Oku (奥の細道, Oku no Hosomichi), in 1694. It is often considered his finest achievement, including hokku such as:

araumi ya / Sado ni yokotau / amanogawa

the rough sea / stretching out towards Sado / the Milky Way

Bashō, with his apprentice Kawai Sora (河合 曾良), started his journey from Edo on May 16, 1689, or Yayoi 27, Genroku 2. He traveled a total of 600 ri, or 2400 kilometers, in 150 days, walking in the northeastern areas of Japan, and came back to Edo in 1691. By the time he came to Ogaki, Gifu, he had completed Oku no Hosomichi.

Later life

In the winter of 1691, Bashō returned to Edo to live in his third Bashō hut, again provided by his disciples. This time, he was not alone; he took in a nephew and his female friend, Jutei, who were both recovering from illness. He had a great many visitors.

Bashō continued to be uneasy with his job. He wrote to a friend that "disturbed by others, I have no peace of mind". He continued to make a living from teaching and appearances at haikai parties until late August of 1693, when he shut the gate to his Bashō Hut and refused to see anybody for a month. Finally, he relented after adopting the principle of karumi or "lightness", a semi-Buddhist philosophy of greeting the mundane world rather than separating himself from it. Bashō left Edo for the last time in the summer of 1694, and spent time in Ueno and Kyoto before coming to Osaka. He became sick with a stomach illness and died peacefully, surrounded by his disciples. He left as a kind of death poem the haiku:

Influence and literary criticism

Rather than sticking to the formula of kigo (季語) which remains popular in Japan even today, Bashō aspired to reflect real human emotion in his hokku. Even during his lifetime, the effort and style of his poetry was widely appreciated; after his death, it only increased. Several of his students compiled quotations from him about his own poetry, most notably Mukai Kyorai and Hattori Dohō.

During the 18th century, appreciation of Bashō's poems grew more fervent, and commentators such as Ishiko Sekisui and Moro Nanimaru went to great length to find references in his hokku to historical events, medieval books, and other poems. These commentators were often lavish in their praise of Bashō's obscure references, some of which were probably literary false cognates. In 1793 Bashō was deified by the Shinto bureaucracy, and for a time criticizing his poetry was literally blasphemous.

It was not until the late 19th century that this period of unanimous passion for Bashō's poems came to an end. Masaoka Shiki, arguably Bashō's most famous critic, tore down the long-standing orthodoxy with his bold and candid objections to Bashō's style. However, Shiki was also instrumental in making Bashō's poetry accessible to leading intellectuals and the Japanese public at large. He invented the term haiku (replacing hokku) to refer to the freestanding 5-7-5 form which he considered the most artistic and desirable part of the haikai no renga.

Critical interpretation of Bashō's poems continued into the 20th century, with notable works by Yamamoto Kenkichi, Imoto Nōichi, and Ogata Tsutomu. The 20th century also saw translations of Bashō's poems into languages and editions around the world. His position in Western eyes as the haiku poet par excellence gave him great influence, and by virtue of Western preference for haiku over more traditional forms like the tanka or renga, have rendered him the archetype of Japanese poets and poetry. The impressionistic and concise nature of his verse influenced particularly Ezra Pound and the Imagists, and later the poets of the Beat generation.

1960s musician Robbie Basho, who released many albums on John Fahey's famed Takoma record label, was brought up Daniel R. Robinson by his adopted parents. Upon discovering the poetry of Matsuo Bashō he decided to change his name to Robbie Basho. The current German guitar player Steffen Basho-Junghans incorporated the Basho into his name after becoming interested in the poetry of Matsuo Bashō through the music of Robbie Basho.

Ninja conspiracy theories

Rumors that Bashō was actually a ninja are fairly widespread and often repeated. These theories generally claim that when Basho traveled to Tohoku, he actually did so under orders from the shōgun, as his spy, keeping an eye on distant daimyō.

Rationalization for these theories generally centers on a couple of points: 1. Bashō came from Iga, a locale well known for its Iga Ryu ninja school. 2. The poet was employed first as a low-ranking samurai (so at least no stranger to martial endeavors, and many ninja were former samurai), and his study of Zen Buddhism. 3. Wandering as a poet was an excellent excuse for traveling across a great deal of Japan. 4. He was also able to gain access to high-level feudal territory, which was apparently impossible for ordinary people. 5. His rate of travel is hard to believe of an ordinary man; at 46 years of age Bashō took only 150 days to cross 2500km on foot; ninja were known to be masters of moving rapidly and with great efficiency. 6. His haiku may have actually been coded missives.

Bibliography

• Nobuyuki Yuasa (Translator) (1967). The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Other Travel Sketches. Penguin Classics. ISBN 0140441859. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)
• Sam Hamill (Translator) (2000). Narrow Road to the Interior and Other Writings. Shambhala. ISBN 1570627169. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)
• Sam Hamill (Translator) (1999). The Essential Bashō. Shambhala. ISBN 1570622825. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)
• David Landis Barnhill (Translator) (2004). Bashō's Haiku: Selected Poems of Matsuo Bashō. State University of New York Press. ISBN 0791461661. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)
• Donald Keene (Translator), Masayuki Miyata (Illustrator) (1997). The Narrow Road to Oku. Kodansha International. ISBN 4770020287. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)

References

Translations of Bashō's hokku are quoted or adapted from Ueda 1992; the biographical information is taken from Ueda's books.

1. Columbia Encyclopedia writes of Bashō: "A master of hokku and the integration of verses in a sequence, Basho imbued what was a social pastime with the spirit of Zen, creating a serious literary form capable of profound artistic expression."

• Makoto Ueda (1982). Matsuo Bashō. Kodansha International. ISBN 0-87011-553-7.
• Makoto Ueda (1992). Bashō and His Interpreters: Selected Hokku with Commentary. Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-1916-0.

External links

• Classical Japanese Database — various poems by Bashō in original and translation
• Comparison of translations by R. H. Blyth, Lucien Stryck, and Peter Beilenson of several Bashō haiku.
• Translations of Basho's Haikai-no-renga by Sean Price

• 1644 births
• 1694 deaths
• Japanese poets
• Zen