The book was very much to my liking and provided haiku and excellent illustrations of places we recently visited in Japan. If you are looking for a story or novel then this book is not for you,but for Japanese poems and illustrations it is just right.
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As an English teacher in Japan on and off for the past 20 years, I am always asked, on meeting new students, why I came to Japan. The answer, for me, is simple: this book. You see, as a college senior, I found myself drifting in no direction, with no roots or life plan. A slacker? Perhaps. But as I studied for my last final exam, I stood to ward off sleep, stretched, and wandered aimlessly through the library stacks until...
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"The Narrow Road to Oku" is about as close to perfection as one can get. First you have Matsuo Basho, Japan's greatest poet, chronicling his hundred and fifty day journey into Oku to visit the grave of his mother, who had died the previous year. Translating this masterpiece is Donald Keene, possibly the greatest modern interpreter and translator of the Japanese mind. If this wasn't enough, Miyata Masayuki has taken Basho's...
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A book with five autobiographical travels, three of them being his expectant last journey of life, with required farwell party etc., of Basho with haiku injected by the author, his traveling companions, or persons met along the way. It was quite an interesting read on culture and the way of life in Japan during Basho's day. The book was satisfying and interesting as a travel journal and for a taste of Basho's personality and...
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With the pressures and obligations that are present in today's fast paced world, it is important to enjoy life in all of its simplicity. The master Haiku poet, Basho, lived in Japan during the late 1600's. Born into a noble class, he felt his life was more fulfilled living as a simple peasant. Valued for his inability to distinguish the difference between economic barriers, he was well respected and highly sought after...
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