WRITER

Matsuo Bashō

1644 - 1694

Photo of Matsuo Bashō

Icon of person Matsuo Bashō

Matsuo Bashō (松尾 芭蕉, 1644 – November 28, 1694), born Matsuo Kinsaku (松尾 金作), then Matsuo Chūemon Munefusa (松尾 忠右衛門 宗房), was the most famous poet of the Edo period in Japan. During his lifetime, Bashō was recognized for his works in the collaborative haikai no renga form; today, after centuries of commentary, he is recognized as the greatest master of haiku (then called hokku). He is also well known for his travel essays beginning with “Records of a Weather-Exposed Skeleton” (1684), written after his journey west to Kyoto and Nara. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Matsuo Bashō has received more than 684,447 page views. His biography is available in 156 different languages on Wikipedia. Matsuo Bashō is the 66th most popular writer (down from 57th in 2019), the 5th most popular biography from Japan (down from 3rd in 2019) and the most popular Japanese Writer.

Matsuo Bashō is most famous for his work "Oku no Hosomichi" which is a travelogue of his journey through Japan.

Memorability Metrics

  • 680k

    Page Views (PV)

  • 84.29

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 156

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 8.60

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 5.72

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Notable Works

Page views of Matsuo Bashō by language


Among WRITERS

Among writers, Matsuo Bashō ranks 66 out of 5,794. Before him are Sappho, Maxim Gorky, Umberto Eco, Lord Byron, Aeschylus, and Arthur Rimbaud. After him are Rabindranath Tagore, Ayn Rand, Hesiod, Li Bai, Pablo Neruda, and Charles Perrault.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1644, Matsuo Bashō ranks 1. After him are Antonio Stradivari, Ole Rømer, Henrietta of England, Louise de La Vallière, Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber, Galdan Boshugtu Khan, Marie Jeanne Baptiste of Savoy-Nemours, Louis-François de Boufflers, Jakob Ammann, François de Neufville, duc de Villeroy, and Amcazade Köprülü Hüseyin Pasha. Among people deceased in 1694, Matsuo Bashō ranks 2. Before him is Mary II of England. After him are Marcello Malpighi, Samuel von Pufendorf, Natalya Naryshkina, Antoine Arnauld, Francesco Morosini, Suleiman of Persia, Ranuccio II Farnese, Duke of Parma, John George IV, Elector of Saxony, Pierre Puget, and Vittoria della Rovere.

Others Born in 1644

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Others Deceased in 1694

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In Japan

Among people born in Japan, Matsuo Bashō ranks 5 out of 5,560. Before him are Hirohito (1901), Hokusai (1760), Hayao Miyazaki (1941), and Akira Kurosawa (1910). After him are Akihito (1933), Emperor Meiji (1852), Miyamoto Musashi (1584), Oda Nobunaga (1534), Yoko Ono (1933), Haruki Murakami (1949), and Isoroku Yamamoto (1884).

Others born in Japan

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Among WRITERS In Japan

Among writers born in Japan, Matsuo Bashō ranks 1. After him are Miyamoto Musashi (1584), Haruki Murakami (1949), Murasaki Shikibu (973), Yukio Mishima (1925), Yasunari Kawabata (1899), Kenzaburō Ōe (1935), Ryūnosuke Akutagawa (1892), Osamu Dazai (1909), Sei Shōnagon (966), Natsume Sōseki (1867), and Kazuo Ishiguro (1954).

Japanese born Writers

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