On July 13th, with Mutsuo Takano-sensei, leader of the Koguma-za haiku group, in attendance, the 68th National Haiku Yamadera Convention was held. After the pre-screening awards for elementary/junior high school students and the general public categories, in the afternoon lecture, he spoke on the topic 'Michinoku and Haiku'. We were able to listen with great interest to his talk about 'Oku no Hosomichi' (The Narrow Road to the Deep North), the pinnacle of travelogues, and specifically about the 'Tagajo no Dan' (Tagajo Section), which is considered the best part of it. Following the lecture, the winners of the haiku written on the day were announced, and it turned out to be an enjoyable convention that truly reflected Mr. Takano's wonderful personality.