Journeys in Japan

Tohoku Haiku Journey: Following Basho's Footsteps (4x22)

Air date: Jun 29, 2013

Haiku are brief poetic snapshots that encapsulate in a few words the essence of a moment, be it the beauty of nature or just a scene from daily life. This form of poetry, born in Japan, is now becoming known around the world. Writer and photographer Kit Pancoast Nagamura has lived in Japan over 20 years. She expresses the beauty of Japan through her lens and also in her poetry. In all, she has written more than 3,000 of her own haiku. On this edition of Journeys in Japan, Kit travels through the north of Japan, following in the footsteps of the 17th century haiku poet Matsuo Basho, who described his journeys in his book, "The Narrow Road to the Deep North". Through her haiku and photographs, Kit captures the historic places she visits and beautiful natural scenes of north Japan in spring and early-summer