Matsuo Basho's Inn

July 18, 1983, Monday

Before beginning my run, I met with the governor of Murakami. Started running at 9:30am under sunny/partly cloudy skies.

Today's run was an extremely beautiful one along the coastline to Nezugaseki. It was about a 50km run today. It was such a pleasant run today--I truly enjoyed it. Events after the run were quite interesting.

Mr. Ono, who showed me around after my arrival, helped me to check into an old, historic ryokan. The owner of the ryokan informed me that the famous Haiku poet, Matsuo Basho stayed in this same inn. I was a bit skeptical, because this must have been over 300 years ago, according to my calculations. The innkeeper came back with an old registry to prove that he had stayed. Really fascinating! I asked which room, but he did not have any idea. Still, it was a real thrill to know that I am staying in the very same inn as the poet who took the "deep and narrow road" through Japan. This is probably his most famous haiku: furuike ya / kawazu tobikomu / mizu no oto (the old pond / a frog jumps in-- / water's sound) [1686]
(See Photo: Matsuo Basho 1644-1694)

When I settled into my room, I sat down with Mr. Ono, had a few beers, and started to talk about various topics. As we sat talking and drinking, Mr. Ono started to cry. I was not sure what was up, but then he started to tell my why. He was recalling the time he was in New Guinea during World War II. He had some very pleasant memories of being in the islands, but what made him cry was the recalling of atrocities that were committed by the soldiers. I did not ask him to elaborate, but I could only imagine what was going through his mind. We continued talking and he seemed to feel much better by talking through his emotions.

Mr. Ono should come out to the islands once again to erase the bad memories and return with the good. I hope he can make it out to Guam someday.

Today I reached Yamagata Prefecture, another milestone indicating that progress is being made.