Matsuo Basho originally Matsuo Munefusa was born in 1644, in a place that is believed to be about 300 miles south of Kyoto.  He was born into a high-ranking summari family that had descended from the great Taira clan of the middle Ages.  Matsuo was one of six children.  At the age of twelve his father, a low ranking samurai died.  It is believed that this caused him to enter the service of Yoshitada, a feudal lord.  Yoshitada and Matsuo studied haiku together, but soon Yoshitada died.
 After the death of Yoshitada, Matsuo moved to Kyoto where he studied the Japanese classics, and began wandering, in search of new ideas and concepts.  He then traveled to Edo and came into the influence of the Danrin School and established himself a haiku master.  At one point in his life Matsuo built waterworks in the city to earn a living.  He was soon able, with the financial support of his followers to move to a hut in Fukagawa, to further his style of the haiku.
 Matsuo’s last name Basho originated from a banana plant that was given to him by one of his followers.  In 1682 his hermitage burned down, causing him to travel to Kai Province, where he began his study of Zen at the Chokei Temple. During this time period Matsuo's mother died in Ueno.  For two years Matsuo went on a journey, this resulted in the records of Weather-Exposed Skeleton; he also led a team of poets to produce the Winter Sun.  In 1689 he journeyed to northern provinces of Honshu.   This journey provided him the material for The Narrow Road to the Deep North, which was an essential part of his life.
 In 1693 Matsuo completely cut him self off from the world, for a month, during this time he worked out his inner conflicts and learned to accept things as they were. He journeyed to Japan, in 1694 visiting a numerous amount of districts.  After composing many haiku poems and other prose pieces, Matsuo died in a country inn in Naniwa.  Elevating and enriching the Haiku form of writing, to a sophisticated literary art was Matsuo's primary goal.  His form of Haiku emphasized the atmosphere of elegance, a deep sympathetic feeling for both nature and humanity, and expressed the inner beauty of art and nature.
Matsuo's works did not cling to the classic style of the Haiku.  He believed that his style enhanced and provided an afterglow to the poem.   Matsuo Basho is considered to be one of the greatest literary figures.  He has forever changed and enriched the art and style of poetry.
"Real poetry, is to lead a beautiful life. To live poetry is better than to write it."

McKoy L.
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