Matsuo Basho was a Japanese poet who became famous by writing haiku poetry. Basho was born in 1644. He was a samarai in his youth, but when he became 22 in 1666, he decided to devote his life to the writting of poetry. Basho's original name was Munefusa but when he needed solitude, he would withdraw into his basho-an which is a hut made of leaves. That's how he got the name Basho. Basho is considered a master of the haiku form, and the influence of Zen Buddhism helped him to infuse a mystical quality into many of his poems. Basho tried to express universal themes by using simple natural images. Later in life, Basho traveled and saw things that inspired his contemporary poetry.