Haiku-Journey or How to Resolve the Tension between Travel Narrative and Poetry

Appearing during the second half of the 20th century, the “haiku-journey,” a prose narrative interspersed with haikus inspired by Bashô’s travel diaries, has tried to reconcile poetry and travel narrative, deemed incompatible till then. An analysis of four works shows that in haiku-journeys, despite the tension between both forms of writing and an imbalance in favour of poetry, the physical journey is still essential, because it is only by paying attention to “little things” that haikus happen.