著者

谷釜 尋徳

出版者

一般社団法人 日本体育・スポーツ・健康学会

雑誌

体育学研究 (ISSN:04846710)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.66, pp.607-622, 2021 (Released:2021-09-15)

参考文献数

50

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Matsuo Basho is considered to have been a hardy walker. The present study was conducted to examine Basho’s walking ability in detail, focusing on his travels in Okunohosomichi. Kawai Sora accompanied Basho on his trip, and this study drew upon Sora Tabinikki, which were notes left by Sora, as a basic historical document. The results obtained were as follows. 1. Basho walked a total distance of 1728.1km, covering an average of 28.3km per day. The distance he walked in a day was mainly around 20–30km. On days when Basho walked for a longer distance, he walked up to 40–50km. However, a look at the distance walked indicates that Basho’s walking ability was inferior to that of an average traveler of the early modern period (an average male). 2. Basho maintained a certain pace over the course of his journey. Each day, he walked at an average speed of 3–4km for about 5 to 8 hours. The upper limit of the distance walked was about 50km a day, but that was a typical distance for people of the early modern period. 3. Records of a trip from Tohoku to Ise during the same period as Basho’s trip and records of a trip from Edo to Tohoku along a similar route 88 years after Basho’s trip were examined. The results indicated that the distance walked in a day during both of those trips far exceeded that walked in a day by Basho. 4. Basho’s age (46 years) meant that he was an older traveler for the early modern period, but Basho walked at a certain pace from start to finish despite stifling heat, rainy weather, and changes in the lengths of days depending on the season. 5. Basho encountered dangerous sites along the way. At times, he walked in dunes where he lost his footing in the sand, he looked nervously at mountain passes that were said to be impassible, and he traversed dangerous shorelines pounded by angry waves with the weather’s help. These findings indicate that Basho’s walking ability was inferior to that of average people of the early modern period in terms of distance, but it was not affected by the weather or season. Basho maintained a certain pace despite occasional dangers along the way. This is what distinguishes Basho’s walking ability.