Basho Museum

The Yamadera Basho Memorial Museum was established in 1989 as part of the cultural building boom in Yamagata, Japan celebrating the 100-year anniversary of the founding of the city. About 20 minutes by train from Yamagata Station, it sits on the south side of the steep river valley facing Yamadera to the north, the historic temple founded in 860, a sightseeing destination.The Museum focuses on the life of Matsuo Bashō who perfected the art of haiku, the concise 5-7-5 syllable verse form now appreciated and written around the world. Many writings by Basho, and literati and artists from his time and later, are regularly displayed. Special exhibitions on related themes are also regularly mounted in the gallery.

The facility includes many traditional Japanese style meeting rooms and tea rooms used for tea ceremonies and other cultural programs, including seminars on literature and haiku taikai poetry writing contests , in both Japanese and English.