Travellers' Checks | A walking tour in the footsteps of Japan’s 17th-century poet Basho
Self-guided tour covers part of the route haiku master followed when he wrote his travelogue The Narrow Road to the Deep North; also in travel news, a 180-day around-the-world cruise that avoids most of the usual port calls
A six-day, self-guided walking tour that takes in part of a celebrated route followed by the 17th-century Japanese poet and haiku master Matsuo Basho has been launched by Hong Kong-based Walk Japan.
Basho’s classic, poetic travelogue Oku no Hosomichi (“The Narrow Road to the Deep North”) was the result of five months spent walking and ruminating around the island of Honshu, and the Penguin Classics’ English translation would be required reading for full appreciation of the experience.
Walk Japan will arm you with a detailed walking guide and route map, set you up with five nights’ accommodation with dinner and breakfast along the way, and provide vehicular transfers. Available from mid-May to November, the hiking route looks reasonably easy, beginning in Sendai (a couple of hours north of Tokyo by train) and ending in Yamadera.