Natsume Soseki

Natsume Kin’nosuke, who wrote under the pen name Sōseki, was a prominent Japanese novelist and writer. Many of his works deal with the complex relationship between western and Japanese culture, and he is often considered the literary poster child of the Meiji era—his work portrays Japan’s emergence as a modern nation, and the cultural struggles that came with it. The sixth child of a powerful Japanese official, Sōseki was born unwanted in 1867. He was adopted in infancy by a childless couple, but he returned to his biological parents eight years later when the couple divorced. Sōseki’s early interest in literature was discouraged by his family, and when he entered the Tokyo Imperial University in 1884, he did so with the intention of becoming an architect. He kept taking literature classes, and in 1890 he joined the English Literature department. He married Nakane Kyōko in 1896 and in 1900 was was sent to Great Britain as “Japan’s first Japanese English literary scholar.” His time in Britain was miserable, however, as he spent most of his time inside studying. Returning to Japan in 1903, Sōseki assumed several high-profile university positions and began writing haikus and renkus for literary journals. However, it was not until the 1905 satirical novel, I Am a Cat, that Sōseki’s work was met with any public recognition. He wrote several other successful novels, including Botchan and Kusamakura, and in 1907 left his university position to write full time. Until his death in 1916, Sōseki wrote one novel a year, including Kokoro and the unfinished work Light and Darkness.