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Basho, the Japanese poet and diarist, was born in Iga-ueno near Kyoto in 1644. He began to write verse while studying as the companion of the son of the local lord, and continued write when he moved to Edo (now Tokyo) in 1667. He eventually became a recluse, and on his travels relied on the hospitality of temples and fellow poets. His work is much influenced by Zen Buddhism. Nobuyuki Uasa teaches English at the University of Hiroshima.
Written in a mixture of prose vignettes known as haibun and the 17-syllable poems of haiku, this slim volume contains five travel sketches from Bashi's wanderings through his native Japan in the 17th century. Few books so brilliantly marry a journey through a physical exterior with the interior landscape of the traveller. Mountains collared by clouds and cedar trees dripping rain become a subtle revelation of Bashi's own state of mind. The purity and simplicity of the writing is breathtaking. In four short haiku lines Bashi is able to conjure the spirit of place and of his own shifting moods in a way that would take other writers whole pages. (Kirkus UK)
