For Andrew Fitzsimons, translating Matsuo Basho’s haiku was both a physical and internal journey. During his quest to render Basho’s complete works into English, the Tokyo-based writer and professor ...

With only a few words, a Haiku master can paint a picture so vivid it's as if the reader is standing beside them — great travel writers have similar abilities. Matsuo Basho was both. “The Narrow Road ...

Matsuo Munefusa was born in Ueno, Iga Province, part of present‐day Mie Prefecture. One of six children, his father was a low ranking provincial samurai who made a living by teaching calligraphy.

OTSU--Spanning 40 meters, a three-volume picture scroll depicting the life of poet Matsuo Basho (1644-1694) is on view in its entirety for the first time at the Otsu City Museum of History here.

Part of what makes Matsuo Bashōs words feel timeless is their emotional honesty. Many people today experience pressure to follow established paths in their careers, social lives and creative pursuits.

In the wake of the devastating earthquake and tsunami in northern Honshu on March 11, people from all around the world turned to a traditional form of poetry to express their emotions and condolences ...

This is the last haiku ever written by the 17th century Japanese poet Basho Matsuo. He dictated it from his deathbed in a rented room over a florist’s shop in the city of Osaka, in the autumn of 1694, ...

KYOTO--Fukuda Art Museum in Kyoto’s Ukyo Ward announced on May 24 that it had purchased the long-missing illustrated scroll of a travelogue by the poet Matsuo Basho (1644-1694) from an art dealer in ...

Turns out haiku doesn’t need to have three lines—and other things you might learn on a tour of Japan’s historic poetry sites. A 17th-century feudal castle overlooks Matsuyama, Japan, the ...

November’s art diary begins with exhibitions by artists (including Lakwena Maciver, Hannah Rose Thomas, Tuli Mekondjo, and Paul B. Kincaid), about which I’ve written previously or with which I have ...