更新日：2010年7月5日

Natsume Soseki

Natsume Soseki, novelist and scholar of English literature, was born in Tokyo in 1867. His real name was Kinnosuke. After graduating from Tokyo University, he taught English language and literature at the Matsuyama Middle School (in Ehime, Shikoku) and at the Fifth Higher School in Kumamoto, Kyushu. In 1900, he was sent by the Education Ministry to study in London.

On returning to Japan in 1903, he began to teach English literature at the First Higher School and Tokyo University. Also around this time, he was invited by the poet and novelist Takahama Kyoshi to contribute stories to the literary magazine Hototogisu. When "Wagahai wa Neko de aru" (tr I am a Cat) and "Botchan" (Little Master; tr Botchan) were serialized in the magazine, they established his reputation as an author.

This prompted Soseki to concentrate on writing. He gave up his teaching positions in 1907 and joined the Asahi Shimbun newspaper. Soon he was producing many notable stories, including the trilogy "Sanshiro" (tr Sanshiro), "Sorekara" (tr And Then), and "Mon" (The Gate; tr Mon); and "Higansugi made" (Until After the Equinox) and "Michikusa" (tr Grass on the Wayside).

Besides fiction, Soseki also wrote cultural critiques, Chinese poetry and haiku verse. From his days at Tokyo University, he was greatly influenced by his fellow student, the poet and critic Masaoka Shiki, and produced a prolific number of poems.

Soseki developed the symptoms of tuberculosis from around 1904 and, despite earnest efforts to convalesce, never fully recovered. And with the added stress of other worries, he began to suffer from depression. On the suggestion of his friend Suga Torao, he practised Zen meditation at the Kigen-in hall of Engakuji Temple in Kita Kamakura. He was there from the end of December 1904 until January 7th. He described this experience in "Mon" and "Yume Juya" (tr Ten Nights of Dreams). Soseki died in 1916 of a gastric ulcer; he was 49.