Kurikara Toge pass is where Kiso no Yoshinaka attacked the Heike with his troops in 1184 during the Gempei Wars. At the pass Yoshinaka tied torches to the horns of four or five hundred cattle and stampeded them through the Heike lines at night. Through this stratagem he routed the Heike armies. This is also a place mentioned in many poems. There are several poems by Iemochi in the Manyoshu that refer to Unohanayama. In Book 10 #1963 we see: Kaku bakari/ ame no furaku ni/ hototogisu/ unohanayama ni/ nahoka nakuramu.

Unohanayama is a pillow word much used in poetry while Kurikaratoge is an ancient battleground. This combination of bun and bu is typical of Basho.

At that time time Kanazawa was the chief city of the north country. In some ways his visit here is comparable to his visit to Sendai on the other side of the country. Sendai, too, was the major city of the north. When Basho visited Kanazawa the city consisted of 13,610 households, probably 50,000 people. It was the capital of the wealthiest domain in the country and home to many craftsmen. Both the Danrin and Teimon schools of poetry had been active here for many years.

Basho and Sora arrived in Kanazawa on 7.15 (8.29). This was the traditional day for celebrating Obon, the Festival of the Dead. Though Basho makes no explicit mention of this fact, by specifying the day of his arrival, he may be preparing us for his poem at the grave of Issho in celebration of the dead. No doubt it was for this reason that he places this poem first even though the subsequent two poems were actually written earlier; he wants to make honoring of the dead the central focus of this chapter.

According to Sora's diary the weather was clear when they left Takaoka. On their way they had views of Genjiyama and Unohanayama, crossed Kurikara Toge, arriving in Kanazawa around three o'clock. They stayed with Kyoya Kichibei.

Kasho was a poet and businessman from Osaka. Several of his poems are included in Saru Mino. He often travelled to Kanazawa on business and was well connected with people of refinement in this city. Sora's diary makes no mention of Kasho, but we know he often visited Kanazawa and it is quite likely that Basho's account of staying at the same inn is accurate. One commentator says Kasho was a dealer in medicine.

According to Sora they spent the night of the 15th with Kyoya Kichibei and on the 16th moved to the home of Miyatakeya Zenzaemon. It seems likely that they stayed with Kasho at Kyoya Kichibei's place and although nothing is known about it, he must have operated an ordinary traveller's inn.

Issho (1653-1688) was a tea merchant who had a shop in Katamachi and was sometimes called Chaya Shinshichi. His family name was Kosugi. In 1672 at the age of 20 he had three poems included in an anthology of Teimon poetry, and from that time on he contributed regularly to collections of poetry. Later he changed to the Danrin School and had 194 of his poems included in a collection called Hitotsumatsu. Eventually he shifted to the Basho style. Apparently he and Basho had corresponded and both were looking forward to meeting in Kanazawa, but Issho died on December 6 the previous year at the age of 36.

According to Sora, Basho arrived in Kanazawa and put up at Kyoya Kichibei's and called for Issho and another poet and it was only when the other poet arrived that Basho was informed of Issho's death. Basho says Issho was highly regarded as a poet among poets although he was not widely known to the world at large. While Basho was in Kanazawa there was a memorial service and Issho's elder brother compiled a memorial collection of poetry titled Nishi no kumo based on poems composed at the memorial dinner. According to Sora, the memorial service was held on the 7.22nd.

THE POEM: The season word is aki no kaze indicating autumn. Autumn wind is associated with blight, grief, and sadness. Basho uses all these implications of sadness in his season word. Issho had looked forward to meeting Basho and waited patiently for his arrival, but he died before Basho arrived. Hearing of Issho's death, Basho wept, then visited his grave at the Gannenji Temple and recited his memorial poem. When Basho visited the grave, the autumn wind was blowing mournfully as usual. The moan of the wind expressed Basho's own grief. By the same token, Basho's own lament, which mixes with the autumn wind, is powerful enough to shake the very burial mound. The poem has a powerful rhythm. Some would say the statement is too strong, blunt, and too subjective to be good poetry. But the poem intentionally creates an unpleasant effect. It may seem excessive and lacking in true feeling, yet we know that Basho was deeply moved by grief on this occasion. Others have suggested that this poem was written in the style or manner of Issho's poetry as a way of showing Basho's association with the dead poet.

THE POEM: Aki suzushi... The headnote speaks of a certain hermitage which, according to the introduction to Nishi no Kumo, was the Shogenan of Saito Issen. This hermitage was located on the bank of the Saikawa. According to Sora's diary, "7.20, clear. Went to Issen's hermitage for a banquet. Composed poetry. In the evening we walked in the fields. We returned for supper, then went out for a walk." When Sora says they composed poetry, they did a linked verse sequence using this poem as the opening verse. The season word is aki suzushi indicating autumn. The hermitage is cool with autumn and they are grateful. While enjoying the cool they peel melons and egg plants. It is early autumn and is still hot, but somehow there is a coolness in the air. They came to the hermitage for a banquet and all pitched in to peel the vegetables. There is a feeling of casual ease of preparing and eating a meal together complements the relief implied by the autumn cool.

THE POEM: Aka aka to...There are several explanations about where this poem was composed. 1) On the way to Kanazawa. 2) Between Kanazawa and Komatsu. 3) At Kanazawa. One work says it was composed near Ohashi over the Asanogawa in Kanazawa. According to this work, the poet Kitae lived near the river and invited Basho to visit on 7.17. While there Basho showed those present a poem he had composed on the way to Kanazawa. Another issue has to do with the order of these poems. One idea is that Issho's death is the main point of the passage, so that is developed and holds pride of place and the other poems are brought in peripherally regardless of what order they were written in. The season word is aki no kaze indicating autumn.

There are many theories about the possible origins of this poem and some of the proposed sources may have actually been in the back of Basho's mind, but his poem expresses the mood of the traveller in a way that we do not see in the earlier poems. This poem opens up a new world. The opening phrase, "Aka aka to" speaks of the bright sunlight. While it could be the morning sun, or the noonday sun, it is most likely the red setting sun. It is not only the brightness of the sun, but the redness (aka) of it which sugests the evening sun. The line tsurenaku means to be indifferent or unfeeling. Although autumn has come, the sun pays no attention; it bears down hot, bright, and red. The mo means that the meaning changes. Despite the fact that it is autumn, the sun still bears down, but there is also a coolness in the air. The combination of the tsurenaku and the mo create a tension here.

Yet if this is the only meaning we can find here, the poem would be a meagre one. The poem appears in various places with different headnotes, but these notes suggest something more complex in terms of interpretation. They say the poem is intended as a consolation for the lonliness of the traveller. We might imagine the evening sun dyeing the landscape red, the sun may still be strong, but there is a certain autumnal sadness about it. Tsurenaku suggests how indifferent and relentless the sun is, but the mo changes the mood completely. The mood shifts from the residual heat to the autumn wind's coolness. The mo means it is not a refreshing breeze, but a melancholy one. It makes one aware of the desolate lonliness of travel. There is a tension here between the residual heat of summer and the coming chill of autumn. He can see the sun and knows the heat of summer is still present, but although he cannot see the wind, he can feel the cool that foretells the coming autumn.

According to Sora's diary, on 7.15 (8.29) they crossed Kurikara Toge and arrived in Kanazawa around three o'clock. They found lodging at the hostel of Kyoya Kichibei and immediately sent for Takesagi (?) and Issho, but Issho did not come. Takesagi and another poet arrived and informed Basho that Issho had died the previous winter. The 16th was clear weather and around ten o'clock they set out in a palenquin sent by Takesagi and moved to the home of Miyatakeya Zenzaemon at Kawaramachi. Zenzaemon's third son was fond of poetry and used the name Shoshun. According to legend Basho was irritated by all the special treatment he received here and said he would rather go hungry than be treated with special favors. While he was here he was visited by a number of Kanazawa poets. The 17th was clear and Basho was invited to the Genian hermitage. Although the diary has it as Genian, it was probably Kitae's Ritsuian located near the Asanogawa. Basho went alone because Sora was ill. That night there was a downpour of rain, but it let up at dawn. Both the 18th and 19th were clear and they were visited by a number of haikai poets. On the 20th they were invited to the Shogenan hermitage where Saito Issen hosted a banquet. After composing poetry they went out in the evening to enjoy the fields on the mountainside. On the 21st Sora was visited by a physician named Kotetsu who prescribed medicine. Basho spent the day out with Kitae and Issui. On the 22nd, taking advantage of Basho's presence, they held a memorial service for Issho and Basho offered the poem Tsuka mo ugoke. Sora was still ill and arrived at the service late, but also dedicated a poem. Many other poems were also dedicated at the service and Issho's brother collected them into Nishi no Kumo.

On the 23rd Basho was invited by people to amuse himself at Miya no Kashi. Again Sora did not go on account of illness. On the 24th they set out from Kanazawa and a group of local poets accompanied them to the edge of the city and some went as far as a neighboring town. They arrived at Komatsu at around four o'clock and put up at the Konoeya. Kitae accompanied them. At this time Ikoma Mambei was a highly paid retainer to the Maeda family, and according to one legend that still survives, he arrived too late to see the poets off, so he leaped onto a horse and chased after them riding bareback. He caught up with them at Matsuto where he gave them parting gifts of gold coins and garments of white silk, but Basho firmly refused the gifts. Ikoma was the scion of a prominent Kaga family and had been interested in poetry from an early age. He took advantage of Basho's presence in Kanazawa to become a disciple. Later Basho met up with him again at Komatsu and they travelled together to Yamanaka Hot Springs.

Basho had made a fast and dedicated trip along the Hokuriku Highway and then relaxed for a time after arriving at Kanazawa. It was a city where haikai flourished and many poets eagerly awaited Basho's arrival. They greeted him warmly and he spent some ten days there, yet his account of the stay is very brief and he says nothing at all about the city itself. He really writes only about Issho, expressing his grief at not being able to meet the man who had waited so long for his arrival and then died before they could meet. It is in this respect that Basho's journal is quite different from an ordinary travel account.