Matsuo Bashō was born in 1644 in Iga, Mie Prefecture, Japan. During his lifetime, he was recognized for his works in the collaborative haikai no renga form, a popular poetic practice of the Edo period. Today, after centuries of commentary and study, Bashō is widely recognized as the greatest master of haiku, the brief three-line poetic form that became central to Japanese literature. Beyond his poetry, he is also well known for his travel essays, which combined prose and verse to document his journeys. His most notable work in this genre is Records of a Weather-Exposed Skeleton, written in 1684 following his journey west to Kyoto and Nara. Bashō died on November 28, 1694, in Osaka, Japan, leaving behind a legacy that would profoundly influence Japanese literature for centuries to come.