The Kiso Road, along the Nakasendo Way. For artists and writers. Nov 24-28, 2025.

In collaboration with our partner Walk Japan.

Our guided haiku walking tour focuses on the mid-section of this historical road between Kyoto and Tokyo — through the mountains and old post towns of central Japan. The Kiso Road is ground-only, beginning mid-morning in Nagoya and ending in Matsumoto.  Great walking through rural and mountainous countryside trails; staying in traditional inns, soaking in the onsen(communal baths), enjoying hearty farmhouse cuisine, writing haiku as we go.

Haiku workshops will take place before we set out in the mornings with prompts and exercises given on our walks. Encouraging an accessible and playful approach to this classic form we offer the workshops and exercises as a way of entering the present moment and inspiring a haiku way of life. There’s no pressure to produce perfect haiku poems, simply to enter into and enjoy the experience or apply to your sketching or photography practice. We will take our inspiration from the great haiku masters (Basho, Isa, Shiki) as well as modern practioners of the art (inc. Margaret Mountain, Michael McClure).

At the end of the day reading/sharing sessions take place before or during dinner and give an opportunity to reflect on our shared experience. Participants are encouraged to keep a creative journal (use A5 Vis diary) for collecting haiku observations, stamps, temple tickets, labels etc.

Itinerary coming soon!

GALLERY      WRITING FROM PAST TRIPS       EXPRESS INTEREST

Among those who once walked the old highway were the famed haiku poet Matsuo Basho (1644-1694) who wrote many of his famous haiku poems while travelling this way and Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858), who in the late 1830s, he traveled along the Nakasendo highway, contributing 46 designs to a series of 69 views of this highway.  His highway prints provide accurate representations of the roads, post-towns, pilgrims and travel methods of his day. Many of the scenes he depicted are still recognizable today. Scattered along the Nakasendo, at Shinchaya, Shimo-suwa, and Karuizawa, you can find rocks inscribed with poems. Composed by Basho, the poems evoke the local landscape at a particular time of year and are much appreciated by local residents who have erected the stone memorials to the poet.

Please send Expression of Interest to Jan here.

Or to reserve your place with your $1200AUD deposit  here.

Matsuo Basho

Basho was a master poet who developed what has come to be known as the haiku poem with a 5-7-5 syllable format, to a high level. He brought to haiku wit, brevity, and a degree of bawdiness which popularized the form among serious poets as well as those seeking entertainment while drinking or eating. Basho is also famous for the many long journeys which he immortalized in a series of travelogues combining poetry and prose. These were also great achievements in their genre. His journeys trip have been immortalized in two works which combine poetry with diary: ‘The Records of a Travel-Worn Satchel’ and ‘A Visit to Sarashina Village’, both translated into English in 1966. And his most famous ‘The Narrow Road to the Deep North’.

Hiroshige

Hiroshige is the given name of Ando Hiroshige (1797-1858) who was a woodblock print artist and illustrator best known for his landscapes. His work was influenced by brush painting and ukiyoe (pictures of the ‘floating world’) which depicted the joys, sorrows and beauties of the entertainment districts. Woodblock prints of actors and courtesans were not particularly successful for Hiroshige, although they were immensely successful in the hands of other artists, but a series of landscape prints led to a commission in 1830 to do ten landscapes of Edo. Ultimately, he executed around 1,000 landscapes of this, his favorite city.