A sacred site of haiku poetry where Matsuo Basho's disciple Mukai Kyorai built a hermitage in 1689, and which Basho himself visited and stayed at three times. The hermitage's name derives from the legend that all 40 persimmons in the garden fell from the trees in a single night. Basho wrote his 'Saga Diary' here and many haiku were born in this thatched cottage setting. The current building was re…

Rakugisha is a thatched hermitage in Sagano, Kyoto, built in 1689 by Mukai Kyorai (1651–1704), one of the foremost disciples of the haiku master Matsuo Basho. The name 'Rakugisha' (literally 'fallen persimmon hermitage') is said to derive from the legend that all approximately 40 persimmons in the g…