Editing Matsuo Bashō (section)

=== ''Oku no Hosomichi'' ===
{{Main|Oku no Hosomichi}}
{{See also|Sora's Diary}}
[[Image:Basho in Ogaki.JPG|thumb|left|A statue commemorating Matsuo Bashō's arrival in [[Ōgaki]]]]

Bashō's private planning for another long journey, to be described in his masterwork ''Oku no Hosomichi'', or ''The Narrow Road to the Deep North'', culminated on May 16, 1689 (Yayoi 27, [[Genroku]] 2), when he left Edo with his student and apprentice {{nihongo|Kawai Sora |[[:ja:河合曾良|河合 曾良]]}} on a journey to the Northern Provinces of [[Honshū]]. At the time, these provinces were relatively unsettled.<ref name="Gateways to World Literature Volume 2">{{cite book |last1=Damrosch |first1=David |date=2012 |publisher=Pearson Education |isbn=0205787118 |page=103}}</ref> Bashō and Sora headed north to [[Hiraizumi]], which they reached on June 29. They then walked to the western side of the island, touring [[Kisakata]] on {{nowrap|July 30}}, and began hiking back at a leisurely pace along the coastline. During this 150-day journey Bashō traveled a total of 600 ''[[Japanese units of measurement#Length|ri]]'' (2,400&nbsp;km) through the northeastern areas of Honshū, returning to [[Edo (Tokyo)|Edo]] in late 1691.{{sfn|Kokusai|1948|p=241}}

By the time Bashō reached [[Ōgaki, Gifu|Ōgaki]], [[Gifu Prefecture]], he had completed the log of his journey. He edited and redacted it for three years, writing the final version in 1694 as {{nihongo|''The Narrow Road to the Interior''|奥の細道|Oku no Hosomichi}}. The first edition was published posthumously in 1702.<ref>{{cite book |author-link=Harold Bolitho |last=Bolitho |first=Harold |title=Treasures of the Yenching: Seventy-Fifth Anniversary of the Harvard-Yenching Library |publisher=Chinese University Press |year=2003 |isbn=978-962-996-102-2 |page=35}}</ref> It was an immediate commercial success and many other itinerant poets followed the path of his journey.{{sfn|Kokusai|1948|p=246}} It is often considered his finest achievement, featuring ''hokku'' such as:

{{Blockquote|<poem>
{{lang|ja|荒海や佐渡によこたふ天の川}} {{Transliteration|ja|''araumi ya / Sado ni yokotau / amanogawa''}}
   the rough sea / stretching out towards Sado / the Milky Way [1689]
</poem>}}