My thanks to NetGalley and Philip Guest for an eARC of this title. I had just finished up reading the collected poetry of Basho (a couple pages every evening, U of CA Press, Fitzsimons), so moving on to this was an enjoyable continuation of that experience.
Initially I was not sure how much including the original text would add, but I did find myself pausing between pages and appreciating the beautiful Japanese characters, and Basho's calligraphy - even if I could not read them.
I had read this in a different translation a couple of years ago, so it is hard to compare (and, I now have Cid Corman's on its way). But I did admire Guest's ability to achieve both precision and poetry in his translation. A multi-genre work, it can not be easy to find a translation style that fits them all.
Guest includes a short Intro and a Translator's Intro, as well as a clear map, and 135 Notes to the text. And, of course, facsimiles of the complete original 1702 text.
I guess my only question here is - Who is Philip Guest? I was not able to find anything about him on Google, or on the (self) publisher's page. It is rather a shame that a volume of such high quality, and uniqueness, was unable to find a mainstream publisher.
4.5 out of 5. Instructive, enjoyable - and lovely.

Calling all Japanophiles!
If, like me, you enjoy all things Japanese then this is a must-read for you. The introduction provides an interesting background to haiku master Matsuo Bashō and outlines the importance and significance of the text. The main text is a travelogue detailing Bashō’s journey around Japanese with fellow haiku poet, Sora. It is an early example of haibun, a mixture of prose and haiku. While I do not pretend to have fully understood the meaning behind each haiku, it is interesting to read them alongside the prose which shows the inspiration for each one. The writing is imbued with a reverence for nature, religion and history. Bashō refers to the journey as a pilgrimage and the places he visited often held historical significance. I found myself searching a map of Japan for place names to try and visualise his journey only to find that there is a map at the back showing the route! Note to publisher: perhaps this map should be at the start of the text (although it is on the contents page, I missed that). I love that the original Japanese script is included even though I, like most people, am unable to read it. Altogether, an enjoyable and interesting read.

I wonder whether some people might be confused by the title of this book. A more familiar translation of "Oku no Hosomichi" is "The Narrow Road to the Deep North". Using 'inland' for 'Oku' could mislead a reader into thinking Basho undertook an inland journey, when in fact it was (almost entirely) around the coast of northern Honshu. It also loses the original sense of wild boondocks, which is how the region was viewed at the time. Also, I feel it is a big mistake to omit a parallel text, in Roman letters (Romaji), of each haiku. It would reveal the 7-5-7 syllabic form of the original poems.

Nevertheless, it's wonderful to see Matsuo Basho's original handwriting of his travel diary, even though I can only read an isolated character or two! The English translation is to be welcomed. The more that people can appreciate Basho's work, the better!