Pine, rock, and sea form an elemental vista along the Sea of Japan, where Basho endured the most difficult stretch of his 1689 journey. Beset by heat and rain, he struggled for nine days on the coastal path. “It was every man for himself,” he wrote, “as the names of the worst spots implied: ‘Oblivious of Parent, Oblivious of Child,’ ‘Dogs Turn Back,’ and ‘Send Back Your Horse.’”