Basho's haiku monument (Sumiyoshi Park)
This monument is engraved with a haiku poem that the haiku poet Matsuo Basho composed when he visited the Takaramonoichi Shinto ritual at Sumiyoshi Taisha Shrine in September 1694 (Genroku 7).
A stone monument bearing the haiku of the haiku poet Matsuo Basho is engraved with the words, "Buy a sake measure, I wonder if I will be able to discern my differences while watching the moon." In September 1694 (Genroku 7), Basho traveled from his hometown of Iga Ueno, passing through Nara and crossing the Kuro Pass to Osaka, to mediate between two disciples who were fighting factions in Osaka. On the 13th, he visited the Takaramonoichi Shinto ritual at Sumiyoshi Taisha Shrine, and bought a sake measure that was being sold on the approach to the shrine. Basho, who had been feeling unwell at the time, did not attend the moon-viewing haiku gathering he had been invited to that night, and returned to his lodgings. At the haiku gathering the next day, he composed the poem "Buy a sake measure..." and said, "I ended up buying a one-go sake measure too. Then my mood changed, and I felt it would be better to go back to the lodgings and get some sleep rather than watching the moon," apologizing wittily for his rudeness the previous day. Afterwards, Basho fell ill with fever and diarrhea in a detached room at the home of Hanaya Niemon in Osaka, and passed away on the evening of October 12th at the age of 51. This poem about Treasure Market was erected at the east entrance of Sumiyoshi Park in 1864 by the Osaka haiku society Naniwa Gekkasha on the 170th anniversary of Basho's death.
Basic information
- Access
- Nankai Main Line "Sumiyoshi Taisha Station"
- Address
- 1-1-13 Hamaguchi Higashi, Suminoe Ward, Osaka City, 559-0002
- Telephone
- 06-6671-2292/Park Management Office
- Fax
- 06-6671-2294