For Andrew Fitzsimons, translating Matsuo Basho¡¯s haiku was both a physical and internal journey.

During his quest to render Basho¡¯s complete works into English, the Tokyo-based writer and professor at Gakushuin University traveled to places associated with Japan¡¯s master poet: from the riverbanks of Fukagawa, Tokyo, which inspired his famous ¡°Oku no Hosomichi¡± (¡°The Narrow Road to the Deep North¡±), to his birthplace in Iga, Mie Prefecture, and his grave in Otsu, Shiga Prefecture. However, it was Fitzsimons¡¯ imagined travels to the interior spaces of Basho¡¯s mind that proved to be the most relevant for his translations.

Basho: The Complete Haiku of Matsuo Basho, by Matsuo Basho,Translated by Andrew Fitzsimons.472 pagesUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS, Poetry.