Oku no Hosomichi and Tosa nikki Essay -- Comparative, Travel Diaries

Comparing Oku no hosomichi and Tosa nikki reveals similarities that make one think if they are the same story, and many differences that make it seem they’re just in different formats. They both have similarities in that they both are travel diaries and they both tell of farewells before their journey. Along with the similarities came many differences. The styles of writing of both diaries were different. Also Oku no hosomichi had two characteristics in writing that Tosa nikki did not, and was a philosophy when Tosa nikki was not. When comparing Oku no hosomichi and Tosa nikki there were some similarities. Both Oku no hosomichi and Tosa nikki shared the characteristic of being a traveling diary of events that took place. Another similarity that the two also shared were the farewells described at the beginning of the diary. Both either had friends say goodbye or a celebration. Oku no hosomichi and Tosa nikki both were travel diaries that were just written in different format. Oku no hosomichi was not written without dates while Tosa nikki was. Both the diaries told of events that happened during the journey. Oku no hosomichi describes the journey of BashÃ…  traveling from Edo to the northerly interior region known as Oku and Tosa nikki described the voyage taken to return to Kyoto through the sea. Both Oku no hosomichi and Tosa nikki have a farewell gathering before the long journey. For instance, BashÃ…  describes the farewell gathering between himself and his close friends. â€Å"The faint shadow of Mount Fuji and the cherry blossoms of Ueno and Yanaka were bidding me a last farewell. My friends had got together the night before, and they all came with me on the boat to keep me company for the first few miles. When we got off the b... ...exts was Oku no hosomichi was, in a way, a philosophy and Tosa nikki was not. BashÃ… , throughout the journey was trying to find out his own identity through Dao. Dao is â€Å"the way†, and is experienced. Dao is, in some way, a purpose and that was something BashÃ…  was trying to find. Tosa nikki on the other hand, was simply the first diary that achieved literature value and did not have a philosophical meaning. From comparing the two works of art, I have revealed the similarities and differences within them. Oku no hosomichi and Tosa nikki both share some characteristics like both being travel diaries, but also have differences between them like that of Oku no hosomichi being a type of philosophy and Tosa nikki just being the first official travel diary. In the end these two works may seem like the same diary but they are not when you look deep inside their meanings.