Paper short abstract

This paper surveys poetic activities during Bashō’s and Sora’s 1689 journey, drawing on Sora’s little-known travel records. By comparing these with Oku no Hosomichi, it reveals what was included or omitted and how linked-verse gatherings shaped the final literary work.

Paper long abstract

In 1689, Matsuo Bashō and his travel companion Kasai (Iwanami) Sora undertook a journey through the northeastern regions of Japan’s main island. The literary outcome of this journey, Oku no Hosomichi, composed several years later, is now regarded as a masterpiece of world literature. Yet, comparatively little is known about the other poetic and literary activities that occurred during this journey in collaboration with numerous local poets. These outputs – linked verse sequences, individual hokku (haiku), and short prose – survive in Sora’s travel records, anthologies, and private manuscripts. This paper offers a comprehensive overview of all such documented activities and events.

Two aspects will receive particular attention. First, after a short examination of the current research situation, I introduce Sora’s travel records, which remain largely unfamiliar in Western scholarship. While Bashō’s Oku no Hosomichi is not a diary but a highly crafted work of fictionalized travel literature, Sora’s diary, which is embedded within his records, cannot be read as literature in the same sense. Nevertheless, these records preserve texts of considerable literary value, including linked verse sequences and independent hokku, which illuminate the compositional process behind Oku no Hosomichi. They raise critical questions about selection and omission: what was incorporated into the canonical text and what was deliberately left aside?

Second, I examine how these poetic activities are reflected within Oku no Hosomichi. The work occasionally presents clusters of three or four hokku, typically attributed to the narrator, with occasional contributions by “Kawai Sora” and, in one instance, another poet. However, the actual linked-verse gatherings only obliquely represented. A modern reading of the text on YouTube compresses a five-month journey into less than an hour, underscoring how much material was excluded. This discrepancy is especially striking in the long passage through Echigo, where Sora’s records attest to multiple poetic gatherings. By juxtaposing these records with Bashō’s text, this paper seeks to reconstruct the broader literary landscape of the 1689 journey and reassess its significance within the collaborative poetics of the Bashō school.

Paper short abstract

In 1689, Bashō and Sora journeyed through northeastern Japan, composing linked verse with local poets. Twelve surviving kasen sequences (36 contributions) reveal regional haikai culture. This paper explores their stylistic traits and local color compared to Bashō’s ideals and contemporary practice.

Paper long abstract

In 1689, the renowned haikai master Matsuo Bashō embarked on a long journey through the northeastern regions of Honshū, accompanied by his disciple Kasai Sora – better known as “Kawai Sora.” The most celebrated literary outcome of this journey is, of course, Oku no Hosomichi (The Narrow Road to the Deep North), a masterpiece that Bashō composed several years later and which has been translated into numerous languages. Yet the historical journey itself was far more than a solitary act of travel and reflection. It was punctuated by vibrant local poetic activity that deserves closer attention.

Along the way, Bashō and Sora met with regional poets and participated in gatherings to compose linked verse (renku), a practice that was not only a significant social event but also provided companionship and creative stimulation during their arduous travels. Sora recorded many of these poetic exchanges in his travel notes, though not all have survived. Today, twelve complete kasen sequences – each consisting of thirty-six verses – remain extant. None of these sequences, however, entered the haikai canon, and despite some scholarly interest in the latter half of the twentieth century, these compositions now risk

falling into obscurity. This is particularly regrettable, as linked verse was the only literary genre of its time that flourished outside the major metropolitan centers, offering a rare glimpse into regional literary culture.

In this presentation, I will examine the characteristics of these linked-verse gatherings at various stations along Bashō’s route. A central question is whether these sequences reflect a uniform style shaped by the authority of the Edo master, or whether they reveal distinctive local inflections – traces of a “Deep North” aesthetic that might illuminate the degree of haikai development in these peripheral regions. Finally, I will compare the stylistic features of Bashō’s ideal of haikai with those of other poets active during the same period, in order to situate these neglected sequences within the broader literary landscape of late seventeenth-century Japan.

Paper short abstract

Bashō’s 1689 journey produced kasen sequences preserved in multiple sources, revealing revisions and Bashō’s critical remarks. Focusing on the Yamanaka hot springs kasen, this presentation compares haikai rules with practice, offering insight into collaborative composition and Bashō’s poetic vision.

Paper long abstract

During his journey through the “Deep North” of Japan’s main island in Genroku 2 (1689), Bashō met with rural haikai poets to compose linked verse in various forms. While these gatherings are alluded to in the famous Oku no Hosomichi, the actual records of the linked poetry survive in other sources. Of the twelve fully preserved kasen sequences – each consisting of thirty-six stanzas – two appear in two distinct versions: one reflecting the original record of the historical session, the other a later revision. In one case, the identity of the reviser remains uncertain. The original texts reveal significant departures from established conventions, such as the prescribed placement of seasonal topics like “moon” and “flower,” and the inclusion of inappropriate themes.

Of particular interest is the kasen composed at the Yamanaka hot springs. Absent from Sora’s travel diary (the so-called Sora tabi nikki), it is preserved instead in the anthology Ushin-shū (Utatsu-shū), compiled by the Kanazawa poet Sojō. This sequence, titled “Autumn of Genroku 2: Escorting the Master and Enjoying Yamanaka Hot Springs – A Three-Person Sequence,” is the only linked verse from the 1689 journey incorporated into Utatsu-shū (through Hokushi) and later into other anthologies. The Yamanaka-shū contains both the original version and – according to its title – a revised version attributed to Bashō himself. This kasen is especially significant because Hokushi, a highly esteemed local haikai poet, included it in Utatsu-shū, and because the revised version preserves Bashō’s critical remarks. These comments offer a rare glimpse into Bashō’s aesthetic principles.

By analyzing these remarks, I examine Bashō’s vision of haikai poetry. Drawing on the shikimoku (rules for linked verse) and the Tsukeawase-shū (a compendium of associative word groups), I compare normative guidelines with actual poetic practice. The kasen transmitted in multiple sources thus provide a unique opportunity to explore the complex dynamics of collaborative composition and the evolving standards of haikai in the late seventeenth century.