As the May morning mist dampened the tips of the weeping cherry branches, a large furoshiki bundle sat at the front door of Sonchō’s house.
This made the third time.
“Today’s really it. I’m going to make a name for myself in the city and stun everyone.”
Kopo crossed his arms and straightened his back as much as he could, glaring in the direction of the old railroad crossing. The damp May air brushed his skin. But his feet, just as they had yesterday and the day before, already knew they’d stop right before that barrier .
“Big brother.”
Minico caught up, a newspaper tucked under his arm. “You’re just going to leave that bundle at the front door again, aren’t you?”
Kopo pouted, plain for anyone to see. “Today’s different. My resolve is completely different from before.”
“Feh-feh.”
Laughter came from beneath the weeping cherry. Drying a white cloth on the veranda , Sonchō looked up leisurely at the sky.
“Time is a traveler passing through, and the clouds that come and go are travelers too. Kopo, that footfall of yours, walking toward the crossing every morning — that’s already the continuation of a journey. Going far isn’t the only kind of journey there is.”
In the mist, the direction of the crossing seemed to look a little closer than usual.
Kopo silently shouldered the bundle, thought for a moment, then quietly set it down again in front of Sonchō’s door. And so he set off on his usual morning path. Today, checking each carving on the stone bridge railing , one by one, as he went.
—As Kopo walked away, Minico opened the still-tied furoshiki. Inside was a single blank notebook. A record of departure , not yet written — a journey that was still to come.
Margin note: That night, on the first page of Kopo’s notebook, all that was written was: “To Amencho Town, ○ minutes on foot.”
【Today’s Motif】
- Journey Day: A commemorative day marking May 16th, 1689 (Genroku 2), when the poet Matsuo Bashō departed Edo’s Fukagawa district and began his journey along the “Narrow Road to the Deep North.” It gave rise to the immortal travel writing that opens: “The months and days are travelers of eternity.”
【Today’s Motif: May 16th, 2026】#
Journey Day: A day commemorating the haiku poet Matsuo Bashō’s departure from Edo’s Fukagawa district on this day in 1689 (Genroku 2), setting out on the journey that became “The Narrow Road to the Deep North.” Its opening line — “The months and days are travelers of eternity, and the years that come and go are travelers too” — is an immortal passage that defines time itself as a journey.
This is an English translation of “旅立ちの荷物”, part of Tales of Amencho Town (蛙鳴町奇譚).