“Your addiction to thinking will come back to haunt you.”

March 21, 2018 6:20 AM

Natsume Sōseki: Japan’s Foremost Modern Novelist [Nippon] “Japan’s leading modern novelist Natsume Sōseki was born 150 years ago, on February 9, 1867. He passed away shortly before his fiftieth birthday, on December 9, 1916; last year Japan marked the centenary of his death. Despite their age, his works remain fresh and full of life for contemporary readers, and they have been translated into many languages. Having lived through a period when the country stepped onto the international stage, Sōseki could be described as Japan’s first writer of world literature.”

• A century after his death, a Japanese literary giant is returning as an android – here’s why [The Conversation]

“One of the more unexpected consequences of Brexit was the closure of a small museum in south London dedicated to the life of Natsume Soseki. As one of Japan’s most revered writers, the centenary of Soseki’s death this year is being marked by numerous events in his home country, not least a resurrection in robotic form. But in the English-speaking world he remains comparatively unknown. This is surprising, given the key role that English culture played in his life, and the fact that he spent two formative years living in London. Soseki came to the UK in 1900. At the time, Japan was going through a period of rapid modernisation after two centuries of self-imposed political isolation. In the country’s only two universities, classes were all being taught in English by Western professors. Soseki was sent abroad as part of a government scheme to train Japanese scholars so they could take over these teaching duties on their return. Arriving in England, he studied briefly at UCL, was tutored by the Shakespearean scholar William James Craig, and witnessed the funeral of Queen Victoria.”

• The hidden heart of Natsume Soseki [The Japan Times]

“By a considerable margin, Soseki is the most analyzed Japanese author in modern literature. Hundreds upon hundreds of books have been written about him and thousands upon thousands of academic papers published. Often regarded as one of the country’s representative “national authors” — a man whose face adorned the ¥1,000 note between 1984 and 2004, and whose works have been a staple of school textbooks for decades — Soseki has come to symbolize Japan’s past struggles with modernization and Westernization. Under intense government pressure to become Japan’s preeminent expert in English literature and imbued with a self-defined mission to produce a revolutionary “theory of literature,” Soseki succumbed to paranoia and anxiety in his mid to late 30s. He later wrote that the entire Japanese nation was being forced into the collective equivalent of a nervous breakdown by having to assimilate several centuries of Western civilization in the course of a few short decades. Yet certain aspects of Soseki’s writings remain enigmatic. Why, for example, was Soseki so obsessed with the relationship between fine art and literature that he incorporated visual images or ideas taken from paintings into his early novels, but then suddenly stopped doing so mid-career?”

• Natsume Soseki’s Cat [Discuss Japan]

“You might say that the blossoming of modern Japanese literature began with Natsume Soseki’s pet cat. During the summer of 1904, a cat wandered into Soseki’s home in Tokyo’s Sendagi district. Although Soseki’s wife Kyoko disliked cats and immediately threw it out numerous times, when she wasn’t looking the cat would come back, curl up on a wooden rice tub, and go to sleep. One day, Soseki finally noticed the cat and said, “Since it keeps coming back, why don’t you let it be?” Having thus received the seal of approval from the master of the house, the cat became the official Soseki pet. Another stroke of luck for the cat was something said by an elderly masseuse who came regularly to visit Soseki’s wife. The old lady stared at the cat, which had stripy black grey fur from head to tail, and muttered that: “This is a remarkably well-omened cat.” From that moment, the cat’s treatment changed completely, and it was served bonito flakes on top of his food. Then, several months later, Soseki was asked by Takahama Kyoshi, editor and publisher of the haiku literary journal Hototogisu, if he would write something for the magazine.”

• A Rebel Cat [Excerpt from I Am A Cat by Natsume Soseki] [Lapham's Quarterly]

“I am a cat. As yet I have no name. I’ve no idea where I was born. All I remember is that I was meowing in a dampish dark place when, for the first time, I saw a human being. This human being, I heard afterward, was a member of the most ferocious human species; a shosei, one of those students who, in return for board and lodging, perform small chores about the house. I hear that, on occasion, this species catches, boils, and eats us. However, as at that time I lacked all knowledge of such creatures, I did not feel particularly frightened. I simply felt myself floating in the air as I was lifted up lightly on his palm. When I accustomed myself to that position, I looked at his face. This must have been the very first time that ever I set eyes on a human being. The impression of oddity, which I then received, still remains today. First of all, the face that should be decorated with hair is as bald as a kettle. Since that day I have met many a cat but never have I come across such deformity. The center of the face protrudes excessively, and sometimes from the holes in that protuberance smoke comes out in little puffs. I was originally somewhat troubled by such exhalations for they made me choke, but I learned only recently that it was the smoke of burnt tobacco, which humans like to breathe.”

posted by Fizz (22 comments total)

• A list of his major works. [wiki]
• Anime adaptation of I Am A Cat [YouTube] [Japanese Language/No Subtitles Available]
[Part 1][Part 2][Part 3][Part 4][Part 5][Part 6][Part 7][Part 8]
posted by Fizz at 6:27 AM on March 21, 2018 [4 favorites]

Thank you for posting this. I've had I Am a Cat sitting on my shelf for quite a while, unread. I guess I've been hesitant to pick it up because of its sheer volume. I wasn't aware of the museum in London, and now I'm sad it's closed down.
posted by Vesihiisi at 6:47 AM on March 21, 2018

For Japanese learners or for the curious, there's an amazing website called The Soseki Project

You can hover over the japanese text for a word by word translation, there's a study guide and even audio files.
posted by vacapinta at 7:16 AM on March 21, 2018 [5 favorites]

To give you an idea how well-known Soseki is in Japan: I belong to an amateur orchestra where we have a big box of everyone's music stands, most in identical and confusing black cases. A while back I got everyone to label theirs with their name; during this process I stood up before rehearsal and said "Okay, we still have some I-am-a-cat (wagahai wa neko de aru) music stands, please get to it..." . There was just one beat of silence, and then everyone was able to mentally recite the next line, namae wa mada nai "I don't have a name yet" and got the point (and very kindly labeled their music stands).
posted by huimangm at 7:37 AM on March 21, 2018 [23 favorites]

Wagahai wa neko de aru is one of my favorite books.

Wagahai is a first person pronoun used by royalty. Very pompous connotations. Wonderful way to title a cat book.
posted by fraula at 7:40 AM on March 21, 2018 [3 favorites]

It's always interesting to compare the foreign language authors who are famous in their own country with the ones who are famous abroad. Most English speakers, if they could name a Japanese novelist at all, would probably name Mishima or Murakami. My high school English curriculum probably spent more time on Japanese novels than most (read: any at all), but this is still the first time I'm hearing of Soseki!
posted by tobascodagama at 8:09 AM on March 21, 2018 [1 favorite]

I came across Ten Nights of Dream in a bookstore, which charmed me. Then I read The Three-Cornered World (a/k/a The Grass Pillow) which completely floored me, and is one of my favorite books of all time. It's a slow, compelling read that perfectly captures a certain kind of daydream-like contemplation.

Thanks for the post!
posted by lmindful at 8:27 AM on March 21, 2018 [2 favorites]

Coincidence -- I recently came across a reference to The Three-Cornered World in a biography of Glenn Gould and am just starting it. I now expect to run across references to Soseki everywhere even though I never heard of him until 2 weeks ago.
posted by JanetLand at 9:06 AM on March 21, 2018 [1 favorite]

would probably name Mishima or Murakami.

A few years ago I did a deep dive on reading a ton of Japanese Literature and like so many other things, there's a much larger world that is often overlooked or passed over. He's a brilliant writer. Very quiet and sharp in his insight into the minds of his characters. I started I Am Cat many years ago but got distracted. I may need to pick it back up again. I'm trying to read from more diverse authors/writers. This is as good an excuse as any to do that.
posted by Fizz at 9:26 AM on March 21, 2018 [1 favorite]

A 500 page satirical novel narrated by a housecat?

Sold.
posted by kyrademon at 10:11 AM on March 21, 2018 [2 favorites]

Kate Beaton's impression of Kokoro: part 1, part 2
posted by Alison at 10:16 AM on March 21, 2018 [4 favorites]

I read Kokoro a few weeks ago. Those comics by Kate Beaton are terrific -- so true to the texture of the book.
posted by chimpsonfilm at 10:39 AM on March 21, 2018

“I am a cat.

Truly the most recognisable line of Japanese literature for weeaboos like me, because boy is it used a lot in anime set in high school.
posted by MartinWisse at 12:52 PM on March 21, 2018

So if someone wanted to get started with Soseki, it sounds like I Am a Cat might be the best starting place?
posted by tobascodagama at 12:59 PM on March 21, 2018

Oh, WOW, vacapinta, that link to the Soseki Project is AMAZING. THANK YOU!

I've been studying Japanese for a few years now and had barely heard of Soseki (mostly via I Am A Cat). Thanks for posting this, Fizz!
posted by kristi at 1:02 PM on March 21, 2018

Honestly, I am a cat didn't do much for me, it felt too affected, but The Grass Pillow is a magnificent book, one of my all time favourites. Mon (Gate) is pretty good too.
posted by smoke at 1:37 PM on March 21, 2018 [2 favorites]

Oh also, in addition to having transcendental prose, it's about a tenth of the size of I Am a Cat
posted by smoke at 1:39 PM on March 21, 2018 [1 favorite]

In Matsuyama, there is a centuries-old bathhouse named Dogo Onsen. It’s the model for Spirited Away— think twisty wooden corridors, old men in robes and sandals, light filtering into internal gardens. Sōseki loved the place and based his comic novel Botchan there, in part. His room has been preserved and one can stand in its spare ambience and look out from old Japan into the concrete and glass modern city just outside.
posted by SandCounty at 2:32 PM on March 21, 2018 [2 favorites]

JanetLand: Wondrous Strange?? Haha, I clearly remember that passage in the book... The fact that a fan suggested the book to Gould and he went ahead to read it stuck me. It too has made me want to check out that title (only Soseki I've read is Kokoro).
posted by Theophrastus Johnson at 2:52 PM on March 21, 2018

Three-Cornered World / Grass Pillow is great, and I really highly recommend Kokoro. Maybe this is my cue to finally start The Gate …
posted by kenko at 7:54 PM on March 21, 2018 [1 favorite]

This is relevant to my interests! And openlibrary's ebook borrowing program has a bunch of his titles available, including I am a Cat: Natsume Sōseki.
posted by judypjhsu at 9:18 PM on March 21, 2018

So if someone wanted to get started with Soseki, it sounds like I Am a Cat might be the best starting place?

Maybe not—it’s really long, has no plot, and some of the humour is dependent on familiarity with the Meiji era. If you want something poetic, Grass Pillow is a good place to start, or if you want something short and funny, Botchan. It’s about a hot-tempered, not overly bright young man who goes to teach at a country school, petty drama and hijinks follow.
posted by betweenthebars at 12:11 PM on March 22, 2018 [2 favorites]