Matsuo Bashō wrote the haiku “The first cold shower, even the monkey seems to want a little coat of straw.” The Japanese original begins “hatsu shigure,” referring to the first cold rain of late autumn or early winter.
Bashō was the most celebrated poet of Japan’s Edo period and is widely regarded as the supreme master of classical haiku. His poetry often transforms a brief observation—rain, a road, a bird, a temple, or a humble traveler—into a moment of emotional and philosophical depth.
In this poem, the monkey appears to share the poet’s discomfort as the first winter shower arrives. The little straw coat, called a komino, was a practical rain garment worn by travelers and farmers. The image is gently humorous, but it also suggests empathy: the poet sees his own vulnerability reflected in the animal.
The poem is associated with Bashō’s mature period and the poetic world of Sarumino, or The Monkey’s Straw Raincoat, a major 1689 anthology of poetry from the Bashō school. A common mix-up is attributing it to Issa, whose poems also frequently feature small animals; the wording and attribution here belong to Bashō.