Matsuo Basho – Japan’s Greatest Haiku Poet
Hello and welcome to Japan Media Tour, I’m your host Stephen T.M., and today we’re going to talk about the legendary poet Matsuo Basho, his contribution to Japanese writing and culture, and how his ideas can help you live a fuller, happier, and healthier life
-Basho was born Matsuo Kinsaku in 1644 in the city of Ueno, in what is now the western part of Mie Prefecture, but was at the time known as Iga Province -This area is famously associated with ninjas, also known as shinobi, as one of the two main
Ninjutsu schools was located in Iga -By the way, the word ninja, meaning ‘one who is invisible’ did not come into regular use until the 20th century – which is also the case with the word haiku – the type of poetry Basho is most famous for
-So although there are some unfounded rumours out there, Basho was likely not trained in ninjutsu. He was, however, the descendant of a line of samurai -His family had lost status over the years though, and most of his close relatives were now farmers
-So they were either low ranking samurai, or high status farmers, depending on how you look at it -Though the exact date of his birth remains a mystery, he died in 1694 at age 49 or 50 -Not much is really known of Basho’s early childhood either
-As a boy he was a servant to a local noble named Todo Yoshitada, who was a relative of the local daimyo -Daimyo were like feudal lords who ruled over the provinces of Japan before the establishment of the prefectural system in the late 1800s
-The Daimyo themselves reported to the Shogun, who was like a military dictator -Matsuo Basho lived in Ueno Castle with Todo Yoshitada, where the two bonded over their shared love of poetry, and often collaborated on poems together -You see, Renku, or haikai no renga, was a popular type of collaborative poetry at the time,
In which several poets would gather and take turns coming up with verses -It was originally silly and vulgar, like comic riffing, or maybe like a rap cypher, but poets like Basho elevated it, and it eventually evolved into what is known today as haiku
-Haiku were originally just part of renku, but Basho was the one who separated the two, and took haiku poetry to another level -Haiku generally consist of three lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables -Haiku usually also contain
Three parts – 2 images, and one concluding line -They have a “kigo”, or season word – something related to a particular season – whether it be snow, flowers, cicadas, fallen leaves, cherry blossoms, etc. -I think I mention it every episode, but the seasons are so central to Japanese media and culture
-They also tend to contain a poetic place -These are often references to significant locations, or places with significant cultural or religious value, such as shrines -And haiku are usually separated by a kireji, which is a dash or other form of punctuation that
Divides the poem into two distinct parts -These parts can reinforce each other, or juxtapose each other to increase the intensity of the feelings -The kireji is said to bring closure to the ideas expressed in the poem
-All right, so I threw a lot of technical terms and information at you there, just to get it out of the way, but let’s actually look at some haiku -We can start with what is perhaps Basho’s most famous haiku, and one that almost everyone in Japan would be familiar with – it’s known
As “Old Pond” -The old pond -A frog jumps in -Sound of water -It’s so simple, yet so evocative -You may have noticed that it doesn’t have the 5-7-5 syllable pattern – that’s just because it was translated into English – the original Japanese version is 5-7-5 -Furuike ya -Kawazu tobikomu -Mizu no oto
-So how should we interpret this poem? -Should we even try to analyze it? Or are we better to just leave it untouched in its beautiful simplicity? -Let me read it again: -The old pond -A frog jumps in -Sound of water
-Although I think the power of this poem comes from the initial thoughts and feelings we have after we hear the concluding line, I’ll share one interpretation I’ve heard with you: -Is it that the frog represents the external world, and the water our mind?
-External stimuli have an effect on us in the short term, but after that the ripples subside we are left only with our own inner monologue -This poem hits you with a moment of zen -And as soon as it does, it’s gone again – symbolic of the transient nature of things
-I’ve also heard scholars of Japanese poetry say that Old Pond was quite subversive at the time – so the concluding line is about the sound of water – but usually when poets would talk about the sound of water people would expect a babbling brook or something like that,
And they would expect the frog to be croaking – but what Basho gives us is a different sound and atmosphere than what people would have expected – just the splash from the frog jumping into the pond -That’s really getting into the weeds,
But I just thought it was an interesting perspective that certain scholars have taken -Wherever your analysis takes you, it’s clear that Basho was very revolutionary for his time -Consider that the renku poetry that came before this was about things like getting drunk and pissing yourself -Haiku was clearly something else
Altogether, even if it had humble beginnings – just like Basho himself -So the death of Basho’s young Lord Yoshitada was said to be a pivotal moment that would forever change Basho’s life -He moved from his hometown of Ueno to Kyoto,
Which was the capital of Japan until the Meiji Restoration in 1868, when the emperor declared Tokyo the new capital -This is also when Edo’s name was first changed to Tokyo, by the way -I always found it confusing that Kyoto was the
Capital of Japan during the Edo period – it seems like Edo should have been the capital at that time -Anyway, Basho lived in Kyoto for a bit, studying poetry under Kigin Kitamura, putting together anthologies for other writers, and gaining a reputation as a pretty good poet himself
-He stayed there for a time, until eventually moving to the aforementioned Edo -While in Edo he worked as a teacher, and this is when he was given the name Basho -You see, one of his students gifted him a banana tree, Basho meaning banana tree in Japanese
-He planted the banana tree outside of his modest hut and it thrived – I guess people were quite impressed by it -I love the idea that this legendary poet’s name is “Banana Tree”, not to be confused with the current-day Japanese comedic duo, Bananaman
–Before this Basho had several different pen names – changing one’s name was common at the time, as we discussed in our episode on the ukiyo-e artist Hokusai -By the way, Hokusai also lived in very humble shacks or huts, and often moved from place to place -There were a lot of similarities between these
Two Edo Era legends, although Hokusai wouldn’t be born for another 100 years or so after Basho -One of the great themes of Basho’s work, and of the Edo Era in general was the impermanence of things -As we’ve seen, even names were impermanent at that time -This all falls under the umbrella of Wabi-sabi
-Now we’ve all heard of wabi-sabi, but let’s break it down into its component parts -Wabi refers to a satisfaction with simplicity and austerity – again, think of the hut Basho lived in -Sabi is an appreciation of the imperfect -There is also the idea that things become
More beautiful as they age and that there’s beauty in melancholy – I remember I once had an English professor who said that you should never give a potted plant to your significant other, as it’s far more beautiful to give them a cut flower that will quickly wither and die
-Now keep in mind that he was teaching Gothic Horror, but i think there is some truth in what he said, and that truth can certainly be applied to the definition of wabi-sabi we’re working towards -There’s beauty in fragility, impermanence, subtlety, and individuality
-I find that individuality part especially intriguing within the context of Japan, as Japan is often called a collectivist country, and when speaking to a lot of my Japanese friends they’ll say things like ‘Japanese society tries to stamp out any individuality that one shows’,
Especially in school or at the office -Anyway, go walk around Harajuku for a bit and then we can talk about individuality -However, I think the individuality in wabi-sabi refers to the more natural aspects that make things different -Imperfections, like a tree missing a couple branches, or Cindy Crawford’s mole – there’s
Gotta be an updated reference there… who’s got a mole these days? -Anyway, what I want to say is that it’s about the idea that difference should be celebrated, but that no one should strive to be a hero that’s greater than anyone else
-It’s the idea that we’re all one with nature – very zen right? -Wabi-sabi originally comes from buddhism, so that makes sense -And wabi actually originally referred to the misery and loneliness of living in nature away from other people -But it shifted over time to refer to the
Peace and appreciation for being alone in nature -OK we had a nice little idea of what wabi-sabi was and then I went and created some dissonance -But it’s perhaps best to use examples, rather than strict definitions in order to fully understand the concept of wabi-sabi
-One example that’s often cited as a perfect representation of wabi-sabi is the art of kintsugi – this is when pottery is repaired with lacquer mixed with gold powder – they also use other mineral powders like silver or platinum sometimes, but most people think
Of gold when they hear the word kintsugi – especially since the word ‘kin’ means gold -The point is: instead of hiding the cracks, you’re accentuating them with beautiful golden lines -If that isn’t an appreciation for the imperfect then I don’t know what is -Well, nature probably is
-Picture you’re walking through the forest, maybe on the island of Yakushima in southwestern Japan – this island, by the way, was the inspiration for the setting of the 1997 Ghibli movie Princess Mononoke, so if you’ve seen that, you can picture the forest I’m talking about
-Along the path you see moss-covered rocks, up ahead there’s an old pond with a decaying tree stump sticking out – maybe that frog from Basho’s poem jumps off and makes a little splash – there’s a felled tree blocking your path, so you need to find an alternate route
In order to continue your hike toward the shrine you’ve travelled so far to visit -This is wabi-sabi in the way that our friend Matsuo Basho experienced it -He loved nature, and often went on trips or pilgrimages through forests, small post towns, and over mountains, stopping at shrines and temples along
The way – and always writing haiku as he went -It was said that he dressed as a beggar when he went on these journeys, even though he was famous in metropolitan areas like Edo -The Records of a Weather-Exposed Skeleton was his first travel essay, which detailed his journey
West from Tokyo (then Edo) to Kyoto and Nara -I mostly wanted to mention that because it’s an incredible title – there are various different translations of the title but I like that one -It’s in line with how he described himself too – as a windswept spirit – conjuring up thoughts of a
Tree on a cliffside, its leaves torn off by a gale -The Narrow Road to the Deep North, or Oku no Hosomichi, is a collection of Basho’s travel essays written around 1682, while on his 5-month journey north from Edo, visiting beautiful and poetic places along the way
-This is probably his most famous work -Basho’s northern journey went from Edo to Sendai, up to Iwate, then over to the west coast and back down to Ogaki, in Gifu – it would be pretty cool to follow his route today, and there are some tourists who do so
-Northern Japan wasn’t that much of a tourist destination in his time, as it still isn’t today, although it has been gaining a bit of popularity more recently -But not even close to the beaten down paths of Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka -Basho’s Narrow Road inspired a new style of writing called haibun
-This is a combination of prose and poetry documenting a journey, with the prose adding context to the haiku -The imagery of Haibun follows 2 paths: -All the external things that are observed along the way, and the internal images that go through the one’s mind over the course of their journey
-He wasn’t alone on his trip to northern Japan – he travelled with his companion Sora, who was a student of his, each of them writing poetry as they went -Travel at this time was very dangerous, and a lot of people assumed that sooner or later
He wouldn’t make it back from one of his journeys, but he always did – despite the highwaymen lurking along the routes -So let’s have a little look at an excerpt from The Narrow Road: -’Mending my cotton pants,
Sewing a new strap on my bamboo hat, I daydreamed. Rubbing moxa into my legs to strengthen them, I dreamed a bright moon rising over Matsushima. So I placed my house in another’s hands and moved to
My patron Mr. Sampū’s summer house in preparation for my journey. And I left a verse by my door: -Even this grass hut -May be transformed -Into a doll’s house’ -This was taken from the beginning of the text,
And you can see that he’s talking about one of the modest little cottages he lived in -As always, there are many interpretations, but what he seems to be saying about the grass hut is that it’s up to the owner to make of the house what they will
-Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and it’s all about your mindset -The simple grass hut can be made beautiful, less likely through someone making tangible changes to it, and more likely in one’s own mind -One must find happiness in the simplicity of the hut -That might
Be a good slogan for Pizza Hut actually… -Although they never really do anything simple do they? – recently they released a ramen pizza in Japan – it doesn’t look very good to me, but it’s probably fine – it has noodles on it, and some sort of thick gravy meant to mimic ramen broth
-Anyway, let’s reel things in a bit here and talk about the origins of haiku, even before the comedic stylings of the renku poets in the early Edo Period -Before all that, there was Waka poetry, which dates back to the Heian Period, and perhaps even before that -The Heian Period, by the way,
Lasted from 794 to 1185 and at that time people were obsessed with aesthetics -Two key concepts arose at this time: -Miyabi, which referred to all things elegant and refined – a loathing of all things vulgar or absurd
-And mono no aware, a sensitivity to nature – the idea that nature can make us become emotional -Similar to wabi-sabi, mono no aware expresses a sense of beauty in the impermanence of things -In order for someone or something to be beautiful in Heian Japan, they needed to
Exhibit both miyabi and mono no aware -So with those two ideas in mind, it’s natural that Heian Japan was a golden age of romantic poetry -There’s a nice connection between this and the idea of courtly love being explored half a world away in Medieval Europe -All right so now that we have a
Bit of a feel for Heian Japan, let’s see what waka poetry was all about -The Kojiki, the oldest known Japanese text, compiled in the year 712CE, well before the beginning of the Heian, actually contained poems written in waka style -The Kojiki, by the way, is fascinating, it’s a semi-historical
Chronicle of myths and legends in Japan -It’s actually the basis for a lot Shinto rituals that are still performed to this day -So Waka originally encompassed several different types of poetry, but eventually came to refer to those with a form of five lines of 5,
7, 5, 7, and 7 syllables, for a total of 31 -There were many different varieties of waka, but romance was one of the core topics, especially in Heian Japan -The word ‘waka’ simply translates to ‘Japanese poetry’ -This is because they wanted to differentiate it from Chinese poetry which was popular at the time
-In fact, often when you see that ‘wa’ at the beginning of a word, it’s referring to something Japanese – for example, ‘washoku’ means Japanese food -We’ll talk more about waka in a future episode – but the important point here is that it laid
The groundwork for haiku, which would appear a few hundred years later in the Edo Period -There are a lot of similarities between the Heian and Edo periods – both were peaceful, with the word Heian actually meaning ‘peace’ in Japanese, and while Heian Japan saw the
Gradual decline in Chinese influence, the Edo period was strictly isolationist -All these ingredients led to both eras being perfect for creating uniquely Japanese art forms -Now, there was one ingredient that made the Edo era special – our old friend the printing press
-Mass printing had been introduced to Japan by Christians who came from Europe in the late 16th century – just in time too, as Christians faced a lot of persecution around this time, and were forced to go underground lest they face serious repercussions,
Often including execution – not to mention Japan would soon after close its borders to all Europeans, and to everyone else for that matter -Nevertheless, the introduction of mass printing had the same effect it had everywhere else – it led to increased access to books and poems,
Which in turn caused an increase in literacy -Similar to how the introduction of woodblock printing techniques, originally from China, would eventually lead to the democritzation of art in Japan -So there were two main types of literature in the Edo era: -Ga, which was the really high class stuff
About the beauty and the majesty of nature -And zoku, which was made for the common people – it was vulgar and comedic – things nobles in Heian Japan would have despised -Anyway, these two types of literature mirrored the two dominant art forms in Edo Japan,
There was of course ukiyo-e woodblock printing, and there was also more traditional Japanese painting influenced by the legendary artist Tanyū Kanō, among others -If ukiyo-e was a reaction to the traditional paintings enjoyed by Japan’s nobility, then zoku was a reaction to Japan’s classical poetry -And what made Matsu Basho special was that he
Was able to combine these two styles, perhaps making a more elevated variety of art accessible to the common people -It was art that everyone could enjoy, just as our man Hokusai would end up doing with his woodblock prints later on
-Both men were very fond of travel, and had a hand in popularizing domestic travel in Japan during the age of Japanese isolationism -Basho was somewhat of a legend by the time Hokusai came around, with Hokusai himself even making portraits of the poet
-Basho also made some paintings in his day that were meant to accompany his poetry, providing some context and setting the scene -He was mostly self-taught, and painting was by no means his forté – not to say he was bad, but he wasn’t Hokusai
-The fact he wasn’t some incredibly great painter actually fit with the theme of karumi found in many of his works, especially his later works -Karumi is a type of lightness, or even childishness which is sometimes used in haiku that connects it to the renku
Tradition I mentioned earlier in the episode -So let’s look at some more of Basho’s haiku -I’ll read a few back-to-back and you can take a moment to consider each one as we go -Solitary now, standing amidst the blossoms, is a cypress tree… -That soon they will die, is unknown, to the chirping cicadas…
-In the fish shop, the gums of the old sea bream, are cold -Watching the cormorant fishing boats, in time, I was full of sorrow -Don’t these poems just create an instant snapshot in your mind of where he was and what he was feeling? -He’s as much a photographer as he is a poet
-Eventually I’ll do some episodes on Japanese photography and we can think more about the connection between photo and haiku – especially nature photography -But just think about the fact that while we travel these days we like to take as many photos
As we can to capture certain moments that we want to reflect on later – where Basho was essentially doing the same thing by writing three-line poems -All is one, we are part of nature, and poetry and photography are the same thing -When you read Basho’s poetry I’m
Sure you can feel that beautiful melancholy, that empathy for nature -As we are part of nature -In the West we tend to be more individualistic, wanting to stand out and be special, but Basho wanted us to feel at one with nature – and his
Poetry is powerful enough to make us feel that way -Perhaps back in our natural state, the way we’re supposed to be -Notice the haiku are also exceedingly simple – very zen and meditative -Let’s read a few more of Basho’s works: -On a darkening sea, the voices of wild ducks, are faint and white…
-The sweet spring night of cherry blossom viewing, has ended… -Clouds now and then give rest to people viewing the moon… -The rough sea, extending towards Sado Isle, The Milky Way… -I could honestly read these all day – they just hit so hard
-I grew up listening to a lot of rap music and Basho goes just as hard as anyone really -Where Basho really separates himself from modern rappers though is his belief that poets should empty their minds of all things superficial – don’t think about money or possessions -Those are only weights that hold
You down from achieving enlightenment and being one with the natural world -Sorry if it’s a bit cheesy comparing this Edo Era poet to modern rappers, but I had to do it -So you see him talking about cherry blossoms in a lot of his poems
-These are of course emblematic of the spring season, and also a great representation of wabi-sabi – they are in bloom for only a short time, and then they’re gone -I think it’s beautiful that Japan still has an obsession with cherry blossoms all these
Years later – they even have seasonal forecasts to let people know when and where to view the sakura -Basho himself only lived to be 49 or 50 years old – not necessarily young for his time,
But he certainly didn’t live to a ripe old age -It is said that he died peacefully of a stomach illness while surrounded by his pupils in Osaka -He never wrote a formal death poem as was a custom of many Japanese poets, but he does have one that is often considered to be
His farewell to this world: -Falling sick on a journey, my dream goes wandering, on a withered field -The Japanese version of this implies that he is no longer able to run around freely, and at this point he can only do so in his dreams
-So that’s it for our little episode on the windswept spirit Matsuo Basho -I hope it encourages you to unplug for a bit and maybe get out into nature – maybe take some photos or just close your eyes and listen to the birds or something
-Once in a while it’s good to just get out there and cleanse your soul a little bit -This was one of my favourite episodes to research as I feel like I learned so much about Japanese history, poetry, and about myself and the things I actually care about in life
-I feel refreshed -I guess the final message is to just think about what you really care about in life and focus your attention in that direction, rather than getting caught up in superficial things that really don’t matter at the end of the day
-So as usual, I’m going to bring things back to the modern day a bit, and I’ve also got a nice travel recommendation for you, inspired of course by Basho -So as I mentioned briefly, and as I’m sure you all already know – Japanese people love
Cherry blossoms, or sakura, and they love going to cherry blossom viewing parties, called ‘hanami’, in the spring -Depending on where you are in Japan, hanami take place some time between March and May -The blossoms themselves only last a week or two, depending on weather conditions, so you need to take advantage of the
Opportunity and go see the sakura while you can -Hanami can of course take place anywhere cherry trees are found, but most cities will have one or two large parks with high concentrations of sakura -There you will likely find some food trucks serving things like yakisoba,
Takoyaki, and other street foods -The festivities often carry on late into the night, with the cherry blossoms being illuminated by lights – this is really beautiful too, though the parties can get a little wild at this time, for better or for worse
-The unfortunate thing is that most people bring large blue tarps to put on the ground, which kind of takes away from the beauty of the cherry blossoms a bit -Some parks don’t allow this though, and will even build temporary benches for visitors
To sit on and enjoy the festivities -Actually one of the best days I had in Japan was at a hanami, chilling with some friends under the cherry blossoms, enjoying a couple beers and some snacks -In the springtime, a lot of companies come out with sakura flavoured treats, which in general are pretty good,
So you can grab a sakura flavoured KitKat or something and eat it amongst its namesake -The tradition of cherry blossom viewing actually dates back to at least the Heian Period, and perhaps even the Nara Period which preceded it, lasting from 710 to 794CE
-The word hanami was even used in The Tale of Genji, which is a classic work of Japanese literature studied by every single Japanese student -Hanami also happen to coincide with the beginning of the school year, so it is considered a time of change and a time for a fresh start in Japan
-There’s something magical about it and you can feel that type of energy in the air -One of the best parts in my mind is the sakura-fubuki or hana-fubuki – this is when the cherry blossoms fall off the trees and float gently down to the earth
-It feels like the kami are all around you -So if you happen to be in Japan at the right time, I highly recommend you go to the park for some cherry blossom viewing -For today’s recommendation I’m going to send you on a pilgrimage to the north of Japan
-You can take the train though, even the shinkansen bullet train if you want -So one of the temples Matsuo Basho stopped at during his journey north from Edo was Risshaku-ji, also known as Yama-dera, or ‘Mountain Temple’, just outside of Yamagata City, and not too far from Sendai -It’s a really beautiful temple
Positioned on the side of a rocky forest cliff -The temple itself was built in the year 860 – that’s another point for the Heian Period, if you’re keeping track -The temple has actually been burned down and rebuilt multiple times -When Basho went there he wrote a famous haiku which reads:
-Ah this silence, sinking into the rocks, the voice of cicadas -So that should give you a pretty good idea of what kind of place it is right? -I suppose if you want to experience it the way Basho described, then you should go in summer,
To listen to the cicadas, but it’s also very beautiful in the fall when you can see the leaves changing colour -There’s also a memorial museum for Basho not far from here in case you want to learn more about the poet
-I should mention that there are over 1,000 stairs to climb in order to get up to the temple, as it is on the side of a mountain, and there is also a small entrance fee – it says online that it’s about 300 yen, but the price is subject to change
-So that is everything for today, I really hope you enjoyed learning about Matsuo Basho – I know I did -Next time we’re back in the cinema to enter the world of Japanese horror and Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s 1997 film ‘Cure’ -It’s a really thought-provoking movie and definitely not your average horror flick
-So until then, this is Stephen T.M. signing off, and I’ll see you next time for Cure
This week we take a pilgrimage to the Edo Era to talk about the most famous haiku poet of all time, Matsuo Basho. Through his teachings we can learn to appreciate nature, and to leave the superficial behind in favour of all that is peaceful and natural in this world. We also discuss cherry blossoms, rap music, and ukiyo-e.
Chapters:
0:00 Matsuo Basho
32:34 Cherry Blossom Viewing
36:20 Risshaku-ji Temple
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