The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category 'Analytics'. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. His work was much influenced by Zen Buddhism.Nobuyuki Yuasa taught English at the University of Hiroshima. He eventually became a recluse, and on his travels relied on the hospitality of temples and fellow poets. He began to write verse while studying as the companion of the son of the local lord, and continued to write when he moved to Edo (now Tokyo) in 1667. Matsuo Basho, the Japanese poet and diarist, was born in Iga-ueno near Kyoto in 1644.

These travel writings not only chronicle Basho’s perilous journeys through Japan, but also capture his vision of eternity in the transient world around him. He wrote of the seasons changing, of the smell of the rain, the brightness of the moon and the beauty of the waterfall, through which he sensed the mysteries of the universe. When he composed The Narrow Road to the Deep North he was a serious student of Zen Buddhism setting off on a series of travels designed to strip away the trappings of the material world and bring spiritual enlightenment. In his perfectly crafted haiku poems, Basho described the natural world with great simplicity and delicacy of feeling.

The narrow road to the north