Haiga 965 - from Basho's Oi no Kobumi

Haiku by Basho. Artwork by myself.

The 25th haiku from "Oi no Kobumi".

Haiga 964 - from Basho's Oi no Kobumi

Haiku by Basho. Artwork by myself.

The 24th haiku from "Oi no Kobumi".

Haiga 963 - from Basho's Oi no Kobumi

Haisku by Matsuo Basho. Artwork by myself.

The 23rd. haiku from "Oi no Kobumi".

Haiga 962 - from Basho's Oi no Kobumi

Haiku by Basho. Artwork by myself.

The 22nd haiku from "Oi no Kobumi".

Haiga 961 - from Basho's Oi no Kobumi

Haiku by Matsuo Basho. Artwork by myself.

The 21st haiku from "Oi no Kobumi".

Haiga 960 - from Basho's Oi no Kobumi

Haiku by Basho. Artwork by myself.

The 20th haiku from "Oi no Kobumi".

Haiga 959 - from Basho's Oi no Kobumi

Haiku by Basho. Artwork by myself.

The 19th haiku from "Oi no Kobumi".

Haiga 958 - from Basho's Oi no Kobumi

Haiku by Basho. Artwork by myself.

The 18th haiku from "Oi no Kobumi"

Haiga 957 - from Basho's Oi no Kobumi

Haiku by Basho. Artwork by myself

The 17th haiku from "Oi no Kobumi".

A little break: my favorite brush

When I make haiga, I use this brush quite often. The brush is made by Pentel stationary company in Japan, and comes with various sizes and colors (grey and red). The ink is supplied by a cartridge(like fountainpen). I posted the link to the manufacturer in comments. The site is in Japanese, though

The brush is usually used to write calligraphy, kanji and all, but in my case, to do ink drawing. It has very fine and elastic hair, so as in the photo, I can draw lines of various types and texture. Depending on the mood of the haiku, I use different lines, and this brush makes the selection possible.

Haiga 956 - from Basho's Oi no Kobumi

Haiku by Basho. Artwork by myself

The 16th haiku from "Oi no Kobumi".

Haiga 955 - from Basho's Oi no Kobumi

Haiku by Basho. Artwork by myself.

The 15th haiku from "Oi no Kobumi"

Haiga 954 - from Basho's Oi no Kobumi

Haiku by Basho. Artwork by mysel.

The 14th haiku from "Oi no Kobumi"

Haiga 953 - from Basho's Oi no Kobumi

Haiku by Matsuo Basho. Artwork by myself.

13rd haiku from "Oi no Kobumi".
Even Basho gets hang over.

Haiga 952 - from Basho's Oi no Kobumi

Haiku by Basho. Artwork by myself.

The 12th haiku from "Oi no Kobumi".

Haiga 951 - from Basho's Oi no Kobumi

Haiku by Matsuo Basho. Artwork by myself.

The 11th haiku from "Oi no Kobumi".

Haiga 950 - from Basho's Oi no Kobumi

Haiku by Basho. Artwork by myself.

The 10th haiku from "Oi no Kobumi"

The English translation is not really in haiku form (at least, it tells the literal meaning of the Japanese original, though). This is the best I could do. If anyone can turn it around and come up with good translation, I will use it instead.

Haiga 949 - from Basho's Oi no Kobumi

Haiku by Basho. Artwork by myself

The 9th haiku from "Ooi no Kobumi".

Haiga 948 - from Basho's Oi no Kobumi

Haikku by Basho. Artwork by myself

The 8th haiku from "Oi no Kobumi".

Haiga 947 - from Basho's Oi no Kobumi

Haiku by Basho. Artwork by myself.

The 7th haiku from "Oi no Kobumi".

In olden days, specially treated paper clothes were common, especially among monks and warriors. The paper clothes were light, strong and warm, some of them were more expensive than silk clothes.

Alexis Rotella wrote haiku on paper cloth:

To my white paper dress
the guests
add their signatures.

Haiga 946 - from Basho's Oi no Kobumi

Haiku by Basho. Artwork by myself.

The 6th haiku from "Oi no Kobumi".

Basho had crossed over Hakone Mountains, which was quite rough. He was now entertained by a wealthy disciple warmly, thinking of the travelers crossing the snowy mountain pass of Hakone.

As Basho explored the art of haiku, he increasingly wrote haiku that began with what was there, and then he went on to the realm of imagination or what was not there, thus expanding the content of the haiku.
Shasei or sketch(what is there) haiku was advocated many many years later by Masaoka Shiki. For a haiga artist like myself, Basho's haiku is more challenging than Shiki's one.

Haiga 945 - from Basho's Oi no Kobumi

Haiku by Basho. Artwork by myself.

The 5th haiku from "Oi no Kobumi".

The mirror here refers to the one found at Shinto shrines, a symbol of the divine. It is usually made of metal, its surface is highly polished.

Haiga 944 - from Basho's Oi no Kobumi

Haiku by Basho. Artwork by myself.

The 4th haiku from "Oi no Kobumi".

Haiga 943 - from Basho's Oi no Kobumi

Haiku by Basho. Artwork by myself.

The 3rd haiku from "Oi no Kobumi".

Haiga 942 - from Basho's Oi no Kobumi

Haiku by Basho. Artwork by myself.

The 2nd haiku from Oi no Kobumi.

Haiga 941 - from Basho's Oi no Kobumi

Haiku by Matsuo Basho. Artwork by myself.

Oi no Kobumi, or Records of Travel-worn Satchel is a haiku journal of the trip Basho made in 1687, from October to April of the following year. He left Edo (Tokyo) for Iga Ueno, his hometown, where he stayed and enjoyed the New Year's celebration. He then traveled places near by, including Yoshino, Nara, Osaka, Suma, and Akashi.

Basho wrote Nozarashi Kiko at age of 41. Kashima Kiko, Oi no Kobumi and Sarashina Kiko followed, and then at 46, he started trip to Oku, which resulted in the famous Oku no Hosomichi, Narrow Road to the Deep North.

Haiga 940 - Land of Gold

Haiku and image by myself.
I did a little digital manipulation at the peak of Mt. Fuji. The gold remains only at the peak of the Japan Islands.

Haiga 939 - An autumn day

I spent days in front of computer. I needed to get some fresh air. So, on a fine autumn day, I took my family to a herb garden. How was the outing? Well, the photo haiga here just shows it.

My next haiga project is "Oi no Kobumi(Records of Travel-worn Sachel)" by Matsuo Basho.
Coming soon.

Haiga 938 - Matsuo Basho haiku from Sarashina Kiko

Haiku by Matsuo Basho. Artwork by myself.

The 12th and last haiku from "Sarashina Kiko".

Haiga 937 - Matsuo Basho haiku from Sarashina Kiko

Haiku by Matsuo Basho. Artwork by myself

The 11th haiku from "Sarashina Kiko".