Matsuo Basho’s The Narrow Road to the Deep North A Brief Understanding of Haiku and Japanese History and Culture

What is Haiku?  a Japanese poem of seventeen syllables, in three lines of five, seven, and five, traditionally evoking images of the natural world.  (This should probably go on your vocab list)

Example Furuike ya kawazu tobikomu mizu no oto Breaking the Silence Of an ancient pond A frog jumped into water- A deep resonance

Remember:  Japanese and English are two very different languages  The English translations of the poems will not always follow the syllable structure of  When you read the Japanese versions the trick to pronunciation is to say each and every letter’s sound

A bit ‘o history  Basho lived from during the Edo Period, also known as the Tokugawa period

Periods of Japanese History  Jomon Period through 300 B.C.  Yayoi Period 300B.C.-300AD  Kofun or Yamato Period  Asuka Period  Nara Period  Heian Period  Kamakura Period  Ashikaga Bakufu  Era of Warring states  The Tokugawa Shogunate and the Edo Period  Meiji Restoration Period  Modern Japan

The Warring States Era  The Warring States Era was a time of sustained internal struggle among many groups. Violence and anarchy were especially prevalent

The Edo Period  The Edo era brought the establishment of a rigid social hierarchy and Tokyo as a leading city in Japan.  The industrial age of the rest of the world is quickly catching up and invading Japan's isolationism.  This is also an era of great culture and society.

Tokugawa Shogunate  Life in Tokugawa Japan was strictly hierarchical with the population divided among four distinct classes: samurai, farmers, craftspeople, and traders.  Prior to the Tokugawa period there was some movement among these classes, but the Tokugawa shoguns, intent upon maintaining their power and privilege, restricted this movement.

Samurai

 The samurai were the warrior class.  At the top was the shogun.  Beneath him were the daimyo, local lords who controlled large amounts of land.  In addition, samurai in the large cities such as Edo might fulfill a variety of functions--as officials in the Shogun's government or as policemen.  Of the approximately 30 million Japanese during the Tokugawa period, about 2 million were samurai.

Ronin  Ronin were "masterless" samurai, without a lord to answer to, but also without any definite means of support.  Many of them wandered the countryside, looking for gainful employment. Some sold their services as hired warriors to the highest daimyo bidder. Of the approximately 30 million Japanese during the Tokugawa period, about 2 million were samurai.

Farmers