Trip Yamagata Japan

Such stillness… / the sound of the cicadas / seep into the rocks. To commemorate this famous haiku, composed by the haiku poet Matsuo Basho when he visited Yamadera on July 13, 1689 during his “Narrow Road to the Deep North” journey, this monument was erected by Basho’s followers in 1853. The stone pagoda visible behind the haiku monument was erected in honor of Emperor Seiwa, by whose order the Risshakuji Temple was founded, and is the oldest stone monument in the Yamadera temple complex.