"A Haiku Journey Tour of Japan "

Tour Summery: November 2010

This year’s tour will focus on haiku and the haiku masters of Japan: Basho, Buson, Issa, and Shiki. Our tour will visit shrines and temples associated with these great haiku masters as well as other locations in Japan made famous in their poetry.

This is, without exaggeration, the haiku journey of a lifetime.  We will visit some of the homes, birthplaces, gravestones, and places made famous by haiku masters such as Matsuo Bashō, Yosa Buson, Kobayashi Issa,and  Masaoka Shiki.  We will begin our tour in Tokyo (Basho-an, the house where Shiki died, the Museum of Haiku Literature), then continue to Kyoto to pay our respects Konpukuji, location of the grave of Buson, and visit Bashō’s Rakushisha, or Hut of the Fallen Persimmon.  From there it is a relatively short journey to Iga Ueno, Bashō’s birthplace (site of his reconstructed home and the Basho Memorial Museum).
After that, we will travel to the unspoiled north to concentrate on places made famous in Bashō’s Oku No Hosomichi: among others, Matsushima, an islanded Bay considered one of the three most beautiful places in Japan; the mountain temple of Yamadera in Yamagata; and Hiraizumi, site of the razed city which inspired Bashō’s “summer grasses—all that remains of warrior’s dreams.”
 For the true aficionado of haiku, this tour is a dream come true, but for any lover of Japan, a wonderful chance to see many aspects of this wonderful country.

Cost: $4700 .00 all inclusive (Air fare, accommodations, dinners, breakfast, museum passes, and transportation)
Commit by March 1 2008
Studio members receive $100 discount

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