The town of Senoue, or Rapid's Head, was a typical post town on the northern highway. The brave warrior Sato is a reference to the warrior Sato Motoharu of the late Heian period who was a retainer of Fujiwara Hidehira and was governor of the Shinobu district. After the Gempei War Hidehira as leader o the Fujiwara family in the Mutsu region fought against Yoritomo and gave refuge to Yoshitsune. When Yoritomo invaded the southern part of Fukushima Sato Motoharu resisted the invasion, but was captured and beheaded. An account of this can be found in the Azuma Kagami under the date of 1189, 8.8 His two sons were Tsugunobu (1158-85) and Tadanobu (1161-86); both were warriors who fought with Yoshitsune and were counted among his guardian saints. The older brother, Tsugunobu, was also called Saburo. In the battle a Yashima he placed himself between Yoshitsune and the enemy and was killed by an arrow intended for Yoshitsune. Tadanobu, the younger brother, was called Jiro. When Yoshitsune was being pursued by Yoritomo and was hiding out at Yoshino, the party was attacked by a band of warrior priests. Tadanobu claimed to be Yoshitsune and took the full brunt of the attack on himself while Yoshitsune escaped. The following year Tadanobu entered Kyoto on a secret mission, was discovered and surrounded by hostile forces, and so committed suicide.

According to legend, when Tsugunobu and Tadanobu did not return from the war, their mother was anxious about what had happened to them. The two men's wives put on their husband's armor and presented themselves to the elderly mother so that she would be consoled by the image of her sons. Basho appears to have changed the sequence of events here. According to Sora they went first to Sabano, then visited Ioji where the graves of the Sato family are located, then visited the ruins of the Sato estate, and finally in the evening made their way to Iizuka Onsen where they spent the night.

Ioji Temple belongs to the Shingon sect and was founded in the year 826 by Kobo Daishi who carved the statue of the Yakushi Buddha which is enshrined there. This was the family temple of the Sato family. Sora says they saw there the graves of Motoharu and his wife and of their two brave sons, but does not mention the graves of the wives. The following day, however, on their way to Shiraishi, they visited the Kofukuji Temple where the two wives are venerated and where there are statues of them wearing their husbands' armor. The story of these women dressing in their husbands' armor is not found in the Gikeiki, but is told in some detail in other warrior works and Basho was evidently familiar with the story. Basho may have placed the wives' graves at Ioji simply as a way of tightening up his narrative. In any case, where Basho says they visited the temple and wept at the graves, Sora says they merely glanced in at the temple on their way past.

Basho's allusion to the weeping tombstone of China allows him to make a connection that reaches across both time and space. In China during the reign of Chin (265-419 AD), an official named Yang Hu died and people erected a monument on the top of a mountain to celebrate his virtue. Everyone who visited the monument found himself in tears pompting the poet Tu Yu to called it the 'Weeping Stone." When Basho says, "I felt I was in the presence of...", the phrase he uses is "Ishibumi mo toki ni arazu" in the sense that although this celebrated weeping stone is in distant China and was erected there many centuries ago, it seems not all that great distance away; indeed, its counterpart is right there before his eyes. This may also be an allusion to the No play "Ukai" and others which use the line, "Hell is not in some distant place, it is right here before our eyes."

Again, although Basho says they stopped at the temple to enjoy a cup of tea and view the relics, Sora comments that the temple has the relics of Yoshitsune and Benkei, but that they did not actually enter the temple to see them. For Basho it is the association of the famous warriors that is important and it is this that he celebrates in his poem. The season word is "kami nobori" which marks the summer season. The time is early in the fifth month and all the homes have paper streamers to mark the presence of brave boys; a tradition that derives from Benkei's satchel and Yoshitsune's sword. Seeing these emblems, boys will be inspired to emulate the ancient heroes. The poem is divided by the verb 'kazaru.' the satchel and the sword are empty emblems of the past while the paper streamers are present and real. Basho sees the paper streamers as reality, but they serve to remind him of the past. The imperative form of the verb, 'kasare' creates an almost sarcastic tone regarding the futility of these emblems and what they stand for. At the same time Basho is saying that these treasures of great warriors are hidden away, but on May 1 they should be brought out and celebrated.

5.2, was clear and sunny when they left their lodgings at Fukushima. They crossed the Abukuma River at Okabe Ford and saw the Mojizuri stone at Yamaguchi village. they crossed the river again at Tsukinowa ford and arrived at Senoue. At Ioji Temple they saw a monument to the two wives and were moved to wet their sleeves with tears. They visited the remains of the Sato family estate and again wept tears of nostalgia for the past. Their hearts were greatly moved by the heroism of Motoharu, of his sons Tsugunobu and Tadanobu, and of their two wives. Yoshitsune was dearly loved and highly regarded as a hero by the people of Basho's time. Many legends remain about the time Yoshitsune's brother Yoritomo pursued him into the north country of Michinoku and the people of the region continue to have a special affection for Yoshitsune. Basho traveling through the region evidently enjoyed hearing the many stories and legends related to Yoshitsune. Sato Motoharu had served both Hidehira and Yasuhira and had resisted Yoritomo's invasion while his sons had both fought and died for Yoshitsune. Thoughts of such heroism and loyalty filled Basho's breast as he visited the ruins of the family estate and the graves at the Ioji temple. He wept over the high cost of their loyalty and in the end only the poet's emotion remained. At the same time he acknowledged the moral purity of these people and their behavior. Basho was not a person who could remain detatched and aloof from the folly of worldly affairs.