Kawai Sora

(1649-1710). Haiku poet. Disciple of Bashō. Born in Shimano Province (now Nagano Prefecture). He went to Edo (now Tokyo), where he studied Shinto and waka. He accompanied Bashō on several journeys, including the one that resulted in Bashō's Oku no hosomichi (1694; tr The Narrow Road to the Deep North, 1966). Sora's diary of that journey is indispensable for the study of this famous work. (adapted from Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia. Tokyo: Kodansha, 1993)