# Basho ![[50 Resources/51 Attachments/51.03 Public/2026-05-04 Basho.jpg|400]] Matsuo Bashō (松尾 芭蕉, 1644 – November 28, 1694), born Matsuo Kinsaku, was the most famous Japanese poet of the Edo period and is today regarded as the greatest master of haiku (then called hokku). During his lifetime, Bashō was recognized for his works in the collaborative haikai no renga form, but today he is celebrated internationally for his travel essays and haiku poetry. Bashō was born near Ueno in Iga Province to a family of samurai descent. He served as a page to Tōdō Yoshitada and developed his love for haikai poetry through this relationship. After Yoshitada's death in 1666, Bashō left home and eventually moved to Edo (modern Tokyo) to further his study of poetry. He is best known for his travel journal "Oku no Hosomichi" (The Narrow Road to the Deep North), which chronicles his journey through the northern provinces of Japan in 1689. This work is considered one of the finest examples of haibun, a literary form combining prose and haiku. Bashō's poetry was influenced by his firsthand experience of the world around him, often encapsulating the feeling of a scene in a few simple elements. Bashō practiced Zen meditation and his later work embraced the principle of karumi (lightness), a philosophy of greeting the mundane world rather than separating from it. He died peacefully in Osaka in 1694, surrounded by his disciples. ## Quotes <!-- QueryToSerialize: LIST FROM #type/quote AND [[Basho]] WHERE public_note = true SORT file.name ASC --> <!-- SerializedQuery: LIST FROM #type/quote AND [[Basho]] WHERE public_note = true SORT file.name ASC --> - [[Every day is a journey and the journey itself is home]] <!-- SerializedQuery END --> ## Books <!-- QueryToSerialize: LIST FROM #books AND [[Basho]] WHERE public_note = true SORT file.name ASC -->