''Nozarashi Kikō'' (), variously translated as ''The Records of a Weather-Exposed Skeleton'' or ''Travelogue of Weather-Beaten Bones'', is the first

travel journal The genre of travel literature or travelogue encompasses outdoor literature, guide books, nature writing, and travel memoirs. History Early examples of travel literature include the ''Periplus of the Erythraean Sea'' (generally considered a 1s ...

haibun is a prosimetric literary form originating in Japan, combining prose and haiku. The range of ''haibun'' is broad and frequently includes autobiography, diary, essay, prose poem, short story and travel journal. History The term "''haibun''" was ...

'' by the

Japanese poet Japanese poetry is poetry typical of Japan, or written, spoken, or chanted in the Japanese language, which includes Old Japanese, Early Middle Japanese, Late Middle Japanese, and Modern Japanese, as well as poetry in Japan which was written in th ...

Matsuo Bashō ; born , later known as was the most famous Japanese poet of the Edo period. During his lifetime, Bashō was recognized for his works in the collaborative '' haikai no renga'' form; today, after centuries of commentary, he is recognized as th ...

. Written in the summer of 1684, the work covers Bashō's journey. According to translator Nobuyuki Yuasa, it is "the first work of Bashō where we find glimpses of his mature style."

Background

In the summer of 1683 (one year before the journey), Bashō's mother passed away. In the following winter, Bashō's friends and disciples built a home for him in

Fukagawa In Japan, Fukagawa (深川) may refer to: * Fukagawa, Hokkaidō, a city ** Fukagawa Station, a railway station * Fukagawa, Tokyo is a district in Kōtō, Tokyo. It is traditionally part of the area of Tokyo. Formerly, it was a ward of the his ...

. On the occasion, Bashō wrote:

Summary

In autumn of the first year of

Jōkyō was a after ''Tenna'' and before ''Genroku.'' This period spanned the years from February 1684 through September 1688. The reigning emperors were and .Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). ''Annales des empereurs du japon'' p. 415./ref> Change of era * ...

(1684), Bashō departed from his home. Passing

Mount Fuji is an active stratovolcano located on the Japanese island of Honshu, with a summit elevation of . It is the highest mountain in Japan, the second-highest volcano on any Asian island (after Mount Kerinci on the Indonesian island of Sumatra), a ...

and walking along the

Fuji River The is a river in Yamanashi Prefecture, Yamanashi and Shizuoka Prefectures of central Japan. It is long and has a drainage basin, watershed of . With the Mogami River and the Kuma River (Japan), Kuma River, it is regarded as one of the three mos ...

, Bashō finds an abandoned infant, tossing some food to the child before moving on. Further stops include the

Ise Grand Shrine The , located in Ise, Mie Prefecture of Japan, is a Shinto shrine dedicated to the solar goddess Amaterasu Ōmikami and the grain goddess Toyouke-hime (Toyouke Omikami). Also known simply as , Ise Shrine is a shrine complex composed of many Shi ...

and Bashō's hometown, where he meets with relatives and mourns the loss of his mother. Next, he visits

Yamato Province was a province of Japan, located in Kinai, corresponding to present-day Nara Prefecture in Honshū. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric (2005). "Yamato" in . It was also called . Yamato consists of two characters, 大 "great", and 和 " Wa". At first, th ...

, Mount Futagami in the

Ryōhaku Mountains The are a mountain range spanning Gifu, Toyama, Ishikawa, Fukui and Shiga prefectures in Japan. It is divided into the Kaetsu Mountains (加越山地 ''Kaetsu Sanchi''), whose major peak is Mount Haku, and the Etsumi Mountains (越美山地 '' ...

, and the remains of Saigyo's hut. As the text progresses, the journaling prose is replaced by a series of poems.

English translations

* * * *

References

{{Japanese poetry Edo-period works Japanese poetry collections Travel books Articles containing Japanese poems Haiku Works by Matsuo Bashō