{"product_id":"the-narrow-road-to-oku-paperback-by-matsuo-basho-translated-by-donald-keene","title":"The Narrow Road to Oku Paperback by Matsuo Basho; Translated by Donald Keene","description":"\u003cbody\u003e\n                \n                    \n                        \u003ch2\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eProduct Details\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/h2\u003e\n                        \u003cul\u003e\n                            \u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher\u003c\/strong\u003e: \u003cb\u003eKodansha International\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cb\u003e(2017-07-25)\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n                            \u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eLanguage\u003c\/strong\u003e: \u003cstrong\u003eEnglish\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n                            \u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePaperback\u003c\/strong\u003e: \u003cstrong\u003e188\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cb\u003epages\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n                            \u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eISBN-13\u003c\/strong\u003e: \u003cstrong\u003e9781568365848\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n                            \u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eItem Weight\u003c\/strong\u003e: \u003cstrong\u003e489.89\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cb\u003egrams\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n                            \u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions\u003c\/strong\u003e: \u003cstrong\u003e22.61 x 14.22 x 1.47\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cb\u003ecm\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n                        \u003c\/ul\u003e\n                        \u003cbr\u003e\n                        \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn the account which he named \"\u003ci\u003eThe Narrow Road to Oku\u003c\/i\u003e,\" Basho makes a journey lasting 150 days, in which he travels, on foot, a distance of 600 ri.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis was three hundred years ago, when the average distance covered by travelers was apparently 9 ri per day, so it is clear that Basho, who was forty years old at the time, possessed a remarkably sturdy pair of walking legs. Nowadays with the development of all sorts of means of transportation, travel is guaranteed to be pleasant and convenient in every respect, so it's almost impossible for us to imagine the kind of journey Basho undertook, \"drifting with the clouds and streams,\" and \"lodging under trees and on bare rocks.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDuring my countless re-readings of \"\u003ci\u003eThe Narrow Road to Oku\u003c\/i\u003e,\" I would bear that in mind, and the short text, which takes up less than 50 pages even in the pocket-book edition, would strike me as much longer than that, and I would feel truly awed by Basho's 2,450-kilometer journey.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI chose \"\u003ci\u003eThe Narrow Road to Oku\u003c\/i\u003e\" as the theme of the exhibition marking the thirtieth anniversary of my career as an artist. As somebody who has been illustrating works from Japanese literature for many years, the subject naturally attracted and interested me. But once I'd embarked on the project, it wasn't long before I realized I'd chosen a more difficult and delicate task than I ever imagined, and I wanted to reprove myself for my naivete.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLast year, to mark the centenary of Tanizaki Jun'ichiro's birth, I produced a set of 54 pictures for his translation of \"The Tale of Genji.\" This was a formidable undertaking, as I had to grapple with the achievement of a literary genius whom I had personally known. But if producing a single picture to represent each chapter in \"The Tale of Genji\" was a matter of selecting a particular \"face,\" or \"plane\" to represent the whole, producing a picture to represent each haiku in \"\u003ci\u003eThe Narrow Road to Oku\u003c\/i\u003e\" was without a doubt a matter of having to select one tiny \"point\"--a mere \"dot.\" One misjudgment in my reading, and the picture would lose touch with the spirit of Basho's work, and end up simply as an illustration that happened to be accompanied by a haiku. I had to meticulously consider every word in those brief 17-syllable poems. Then, if I was fortunate, from the vast gaps and the densely packed phrases a numinous power would gather and inspire me: at times I felt as if I was experiencing what ancient people called the \"kotadama,\" the miraculous power residing in words.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA self-styled \"beggar of winds and madness,\" Basho originated and refined a unique genre of fictional travel literature, which used poetry that enabled one to render, empty-handedly, all of creation. I believe that I could ask for no greater favor from my painter's brush than that I too be able to glean the merest fragment of what the saint of haiku Basho saw, and be able to reproduce it in my work. — \u003cb\u003e Miyata Masayuki\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n                        \u003ch3\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n                        \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTranslation: \u003cb\u003eDONALD KEENE\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e U.S. scholar, and translator of Japanese literature, Donald Keene was born in New York City and graduated from Columbia University, where he received a PhD in 1949. He studied Japanese literature at Cambridge University, in England and Kyoto University. Keene's scholarly works include \u003ci\u003eThe Japanese Discovery of Europe\u003c\/i\u003e (1952; revised edition, 1969) and a series of volumes on the history of Japanese literature which began with \u003ci\u003eWorld Within Walls\u003c\/i\u003e (1976) and continued with \u003ci\u003eDawn to the West\u003c\/i\u003e (2 vols, 1984). His translations of Japanese literary works include \u003ci\u003eThe Tale of the Bamboo Cutter\u003c\/i\u003e (Taketori monogatari; tr. 1956), \u003ci\u003eEssays in Idleness\u003c\/i\u003e (Tsurezure- gusa; tr. 1967), \u003ci\u003eThe Treasury of Loyal Retainers\u003c\/i\u003e (Kanadehon chushingura; tr. 1971), and fiction by Mishima Yukio and Dazai Osamu. Keene became a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1986. The Donald Keene Center for Japanese Culture was established at Columbia University in the same year.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIllustrations: \u003cb\u003eMASAYUKI MIYATA\u003c\/b\u003e (1926-1997)\u003cbr\u003eMasayuki Miyata was born in Akasaka, Tokyo in 1926. He was discovered by the distinguished writer Tanizaki Jun'ichiro, and he went on to create his own distinct realm in kiri-e (cut-out illustrations). His cut-out pictures, made with mere sheets of paper and a cutting blade, and their exceptional accessibility to people from all countries, have won admiration. In 1981, his work Japanese Pieta was selected for the modem religious art collection in the Vatican Museum—he is only the fourth Japanese artist so honored this century. In 1995, the bi-centennial anniversary of the UN, Miyata was selected from contemporary artists worldwide to be the UN's official artist, the first Japanese to hold the post. His masterpiece, Red Fuji, was reproduced in special limited edition in 184 countries around the globe. Miyata continued to be actively engaged in international art circles as the most prominent \u003ci\u003ekiri-e\u003c\/i\u003e artist in Japan until his death in 1997.\u003cbr\u003eHis representative works include illustrations for\u003ci\u003e Oku no Hosomichi\u003c\/i\u003e (\u003ci\u003eThe Narrow Road to Oku\u003c\/i\u003e), \u003ci\u003eTaketori monogatari\u003c\/i\u003e (Tale of a Bamboo-Cutter), \u003ci\u003eMan’yo koi-uta\u003c\/i\u003e (\u003ci\u003ePoems of Love from the Man’yoshu\u003c\/i\u003e), and \u003ci\u003eHana no Ran\u003c\/i\u003e (\u003ci\u003ePassion in Disarray\u003c\/i\u003e).\u003c\/p\u003e\n                    \n                \n            \u003c\/body\u003e","brand":"Best Bookstore","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":46555672379553,"sku":"BBSNIJ9781568365848","price":32.3,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0525\/2084\/5473\/files\/9781568365848.jpg?v=1781793915","url":"https:\/\/www.bestbookstore.ca\/products\/the-narrow-road-to-oku-paperback-by-matsuo-basho-translated-by-donald-keene","provider":"Best Book Store","version":"1.0","type":"link"}