Basho entered Sukagawa by crossing Shirakawa-no-seki (a barrier at Shirakawa) and stayed there for four or five days. When asked about the haiku he composed after crossing the barrier, he explained that the rustic folk song was the first feeling of elegance he had after entering the Tohoku area. Even now, there are many folk songs that had been passed down from generation to generation in the Tohoku area. The area is truly a treasury of Japanese folk songs. Basho, while gazing at gracious Mt. Bandai, which was then called Aizune, continued his journey in the Deep North. Mt. Bandai erupted in 1888, 200 years after Basho's visit, and drastically changing its shape. At present, the mountain provides a resort with several crater lakes that resulted from the eruption.