Haiku poet Matsuo Bashō passed through the area on the trip that became his masterwork Oku no Hosomichi.
He and Sora parted at Yamanaka, but at Ōgaki he briefly met up with a few of his other disciples before departing again to the Ise Shrine and closing the account.
However, trips to the Sakunami Hot Springs as well as the Yamadera temple well-known from Matsuo Bashō's Oku no Hosomichi are popular.
Bashō recounts his visit in Oku no Hosomichi, telling off the magnificent pillars, painted ceiling, long flight of stone steps, votive lanterns, and the 'sparkle of the vermilion fence in the morning sun'.
Oku no Hosomichi | Oku-Komyo-En Sanatorium | Mount Oku | Hiroya Oku | Basho on the horseback, followed by Sora in ''Okuno Hosomichi Emaki, of Yosa Buson |
May 26 – Matsuo Bashō begins the journey described in Oku no Hosomichi ("Narrow road to the interior") on which he visits Kisakata, and later composes a waka about Kisakata's islands.
The medieval period saw the rise of diaries such as Abutsu Ni’s Izayoi Nikki and travel diaries such as Matsuo Bashō's Oku no Hosomichi.
Ōgaki was the final destination for the haiku poet Matsuo Bashō on one of his long journeys as recounted in his book Oku no Hosomichi.
This treatment is especially apparent when Keene writes of Matsuo Bashō's travel diaries, such as The Narrow Road to the North, or provides a window into an author's life, such as in the case of Fujiwara no Teika's Meigetsuki ("Chronicle of the Clear Moon").
Yosa Buson drew an illustration of Oku no hosomichi showing Basho on the horseback accompanied by Sora.