Haiku Society

Basho

Matsuo Basho's work in the 17th century helped make the hokku an integral part of Japanese poetry. For this reason, Basho is considered the first great master and father of haiku. Born in 1644 as Matsuo Kinsaku, Basho evaded a career as a samurai by becoming servant to Todo Yoshitada. Yoshitada kindled Basho's love for a form of poetry called haikai and Basho published his first poem in 1662 under the haigo, or haikai pen name, of Sobo. In 1665, Basho and Yoshitada arranged a one-hundred-verse renku with other associates. The spark of poetry had bitten Basho and even after Yoshitada's death in 1666, Basho continued to publish his poems in anthologies in 1667, 1669, and 1671. The details of Basho's life become otherwise vague until he moves to Edo in 1672. In Edo, Basho took the haigo of Tosei and began teaching poetry to eager pupils. The simplicity in Basho's work was immediately and greatly admired in Edo. By the winter of 1672, Basho had acquired a new home, built by his students, and the new haigo of Basho, from the banana tree planted in his yard. During this time, Basho's poetry was very introspective and rarely dealt with his surroundings.

Success did not bring happiness for Basho, who lost his hut to a fire in 1682 and his mother in 1683. By 1684, not even another hut nor the publication of his Shriveled Chestnuts was enough to improve Basho's spirits and make him remain in Edo. His wandering personality led him to roam the streets of medieval Japan, going from Mount Fuji to Kyoto, where he discovered friends and new surroundings that had prominent effects on his mood and poetry. By the summer of 1685, Basho returned to Edo where he resumed his teaching position with an uplifted spirit. In 1685, Basho published the hokku he had written about his life during his journey back to Edo with the title, Account of a Weather-Beaten Skeleton.

Although the tranquility of a nomadic existence still called to Basho, he stayed in Edo, for the most part, until May 16, 1689. He left once in 1687 to the countryside for moon watching, and for a longer period in 1688 to Ueno for the Lunar New Year celebrations. In Edo, Basho taught his growing disciples, held contests, and attended haikai parties. In1689, Basho and his student Kawai Sora left Edo on a journey towards the north of Hiraizumi, then west to Kisakata, then back along the coastline. During this period, Basho wrote extensively in his log entitled The Narrow Road to Oku. By 1691, on his return to Edo, the log was completed and was instantly and subsequently considered his greatest work.

Upon his return to a third hut in the winter of 1691, Basho took in his nephew and female friend Jutei who were both recuperating from sickness. He received much company but was restless, finally shutting himself away in his house for an entire month. During this month of isolation, Basho must have delved into the teachings and meditations of Zen Buddhism. He emerged with a new outlook on life, referred to as karumi or lightness in Buddhist philosophy, which emphasized welcoming and responding to the world rather than isolating oneself from it. Basho left on his last voyage in the summer of 1694 and died in Osaka from a stomach illness, surrounded by his students.

Basho's work was revered during his lifetime, but became absolutely cherished after his death. Reviewers held up his poetry as if it were holy writings and, in fact, the Shinto government deified Basho in 1793, making any critical commentary about his work sacrilegious. Interestingly enough, Basho's most vocal critic, Masaoka Shiki, coined the term haiku and made Basho's poetry available to foremost scholars and the Japanese public. Shofu, Basho's school of haikai, was sustained by his disciples and became the haikai standard throughout Japan. Today, Basho's poetry has been translated into many languages and editions across the globe.