Basho’s purpose, I was beginning to realise, was a poetic one. While I wanted to see Ezo country, the farmers and peasants of the far north, Basho was visiting places which had inspired poets in the past. Many poets had written about these places, but few actually visited them; and Basho’s aim was to revive his poetic spirit by seeing the places themselves. ‘Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the men of old; seek what they sought’, he wrote. And the stories and legends surrounding Yoshitsune had always been a particular inspiration.
