Journey to See Fuji (1567) by Satomura Jōha: About the Author, Circumstances of Creation, and Main Features of the Diary

At a time when many provincial daimyō were at war with their neighbors, and Oda Nobunaga was gradually becoming a central figure in the political arena, the renga poet Satomura Jōha and his disciples made a journey to Suruga province to see Mt. Fuji. Jōha described this journey in his travel diary, Journey to See Fuji. The diary clearly shows both the features of medieval travel diaries, such as the inclusion of renga and some waka, the strong influence of Ise Monogatari, references to Genji Monogatari and the diaries of Jōha’s predecessors, other renga poets. Journey to See Fuji also bears the characteristics of early modern travel diaries: the absence of a sense of forcedness and hardness of the journey (instead, Jōha is enjoying his travel), a detailed listing of the names of people met on the way, realistic depiction of places he visited, and descriptions of military hostilities.It is curious that, despite stating seeing Mt. Fuji as the main reason for his journey, Jōha writes about it very little. This diary is interesting not only for its literary and poetic part but also as a historical source from which it is possible to reconstruct the network of relationships between famous figures of the sixteenth century.