poetic journey

The digital version of the zine is available for free.

As a bonus, this zine includes an impression diary. Write, imagine, draw, and record everything you notice this spring to develop your own sense of beauty.

We’ll look into the travel diary of Matsuo Bashō to discover how the great poet thought and saw the world. Together with him, we will try to turn our ordinary "today" into the true art of contemplation. Finally, we’ll savor the taste of fresh matcha as the matchamatea team shares their spring favorites.

We will dive into the hypnotic moment of a spring dream (Shunmin), where reality becomes blurred and the boundaries between the subconscious and the waking world dissolve. And, of course, we will dissolve into the cherry blossoms. By day (Hanami) and by night (Yozakura), in ancient Kyoto and right here, today—forever.

We will turn the anticipation of spring (Haru matsu) into an art form. We will peer into our surroundings, learning to hear and feel every change against our skin. We’ll awaken within ourselves Sekishun, the "poetic sorrow," noticing how beauty slips away every second and trying to catch that moment before it becomes the past.

First, we bid farewell to winter through the feeling of Nagori. We listen for the "echo of the departing"—that distinct transition where spring hasn't yet blossomed, but the air already smells different. This is a time of deep, luminous nostalgia.

To truly immerse yourself in this poetic journey, it is essential to cultivate a sense of beauty and aesthetics while enriching your knowledge of poetry. The great Japanese poets will be our guides. Japanese poetry offers a way to leap headlong into travel—just three lines, 17 syllables, and you’ve already fallen into another dimension. You walk hand-in-hand with a famed poet, arguing with them or nodding in agreement.

It’s time for a new journey. The theme of this zine is the search for spring. After a long winter, both people and nature begin a new path. No one knows what this spring will bring—to the world or to us—but notice how the snow still melts and the flowers still bloom.