The man who became known as perhaps the greatest poet in Japanese history was born in 1644, first publishing under the pen name, Sōbō, although he later took the pen name under which he is universally known today, Bashō, after the bashō (Japanese banana) tree. It was not until he moved to Edo in 1674 that he began to come into his own, finding like-minded poets and starting his own school. Ironically, he found poetic success not to his liking. He first tried Zen meditation, but then began interspersing his teaching with extensive wandering. Out of these journeys came the next fortnightly book, The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Other Travel Sketches, which is a collection of five short, distinct travel writings that mix prose and poetry:
The Records of a Weather-Exposed Skeleton
A Visit to the Kashima Tribe
The Records of a Travel-Worn Satchel
A Visit to Sarashina Village
The Narrow Road to the Deep North
The Penguin edition is translted by Nobuyuki Yuasa and has traditional illustrations by Yusa Buson, who is with Bashō considered one of the Great Four of haiku poetry.
