Basho Memorial Museum

What to know

Iga Ueno was the birthplace of Matsuo Basho (1644-1694), one of Japan's most celebrated poets. Known simply as Basho, he left a legacy of great works, especially haiku, a distinctive style of Japanese poetry.

Basho traveled widely, composing haiku on journeys across the Kansai, Chubu, Kanto, and Tohoku regions. His most famous work is Oku no Hosomichi, a travel diary infused with haiku from his journey to Tohoku. Today, various attractions in Iga Ueno document the life and commemorate the achievements of its most famous son.

The Basho Memorial Museum, a small old museum near Ueno Castle in Ueno Park, exhibits scrolls of Basho's poems and maps of his travel routes. Also in Ueno Park is the Haiseiden Hall, a hat-shaped building commemorating the 300th anniversary of Basho's birth. It houses a statue of Basho and hosts the annual Basho Festival in October, where exemplary haiku from the past year are commended.

A kilometer east of the museum is Basho's Birth House, maintained in its original form in a residential district. Visitors can enter and glimpse the poet's living conditions during his youth and the study where he wrote his first haiku.

A 20-minute walk south leads to Minomushi-an, the only surviving retreat of five that Basho frequented in and around Iga Ueno. This old house has a serene setting with simple tatami rooms surrounded by a small garden. It is named after a poem Basho wrote about the sounds of bagworms (minomushi) heard there.

Stone tablets with carvings of Basho's works are placed across the city, reminding residents and visitors of the haiku master from Iga Ueno.