One of the most renowned poets from Japan’s Edo period (1603–1868), Matsuo Bashō is known for his travelogue Oku no Hosomichi (The Narrow Road to the Deep North), a collection of the haiku he read on his half-year, 1,500-mile-long journey from Tokyo to the north and back. As such, there are many historic sites related to Bashō across Japan, and although not the among the most famous of these, the Site of Yatate Hajime in the Senju area cannot go unmentioned. The phrase yatate hajime originates from the haiku Bashō read at the start of…
