Soseki Natsume

Botchan has a chip on his shoulder. His elder brother is his parents' obvious favourite and Botchan only receives any attention at all if he misbehaves. After his parents die, Botchan is cut off by his brother and drifts into a job teaching maths in a small provincial town far from the big city. Thrust into this alien environment, Botchan...

Written over the course of 1904-6, Soseki's comic masterpiece, I Am a Cat satirises the follies of upper-middle-class Japanese society during the Meiji era. With acerbic wit and sardonic perspective, it follows the whimsical adventures of a world-weary stray kitten who comments on the follies and foibles of the people around him. "A nonchalant string of anecdotes and wisecracks, told...

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...

Japan's beloved literary masterpiece brought to life in manga form! Soseki Natsume's comic masterpiece, I Am a Cat, satirises the foolishness of upper-middle-class Japanese society in early 20th century Tokyo. Written with biting wit and sardonic perspective, it follows the whimsical adventures of a rather cynical stray kitten. He finds his way into the home of an English teacher, where...

Natsume Soseki is the representative modern Japanese novelist, a figure of truly national stature. – Haruki Murakami A chance encounter irrevocably links a university student to an older man he simply calls Sensei ('Teacher'). Intrigued by Sensei's aloofness, the student visits him with increasing frequency, and Sensei and his beautiful wife eventually open their home and lives to him. The...

One of the most popular novels of all time in Japan - now available in manga form! Reckless but unfailingly honest, Botchan is the youngest son in a middle-class Tokyo family. Following his graduation from college, he takes a job as a math teacher on the island of Shikoku, far from the city. Thrust into this alien small-town environment, Botchan...

A timeless psychological study of a young man's deep alienation from society. Set in the early 20th century, Kokoro opens with a chance encounter on a beach near Tokyo that irrevocably links a young student to a man he simply calls Sensei (Teacher). Intrigued by Sensei's aloofness, the student calls upon him with increasing frequency. Eventually, Sensei and his beautiful...