Soseki Natsume's Collected Haiku

Soseki Natsume's Collected Haiku brings together 1,000 haikus by Soseki Natsume, compiled for the first time into one volume.

Soseki Natsume is Japan's most popular writer, well-known in the West for his satirical novels such as I Am a Cat, Botchan, and Kokoro. However, he first gained recognition in Japan as a poet, having published hundreds of haikus over several decades. Until now, very few of these have been available in English.

Soseki Natsume's Collected Haiku presents 1,000 of the author's most famous verses, selected and translated by Erik Lofgren, a leading expert on Soseki. The poems are organised into chapters that correspond to the five traditional Japanese seasons: New Year's, Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter.

In these poems, Soseki delves into themes ranging from wabi-sabi Zen simplicity to his own personal experiences, including several years spent studying in England. His verses evoke the splendour of the natural world, the power of human emotions, and the serenity found in living a peaceful life.

Each poem is presented in the original Japanese, alongside a Romanized version and an English translation. Audio recordings of both the English and Japanese versions are available online.