Photos by Michael Yamashita yamashitaphoto / Today’s fall focus falls on Naruko Gorge, in the Tohoku region of Japan. Numerous hiking paths around Naruko will lead you through canyons and forests. The beauty of these trails helped inspire Japan’s most famous literary figure, the haiku poet Matsuo Basho. He was struck by the scenery and mentioned it in his beloved masterpiece, Oku No Hosomichi (Narrow Road to the Deep North), a diary of his five-month journey into the wilderness north and west of Edo (now Tokyo) in 1689. And it was my good fortune to get an assignment for a Nat Geo story on Basho. My instructions were simple: follow his route and make poetic pictures. I was equally inspired. #naruko #narukoonsen #narukogorge #fallfoliage #miyagijapan