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Soseki Natsume Kokoro

A Classic Novel of Japan
Brief Description
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... Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
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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 student graduates and is called home to care for his dying father, but Sen

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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 student graduates and is called home to care for his dying father, but Sensei draws him back with a letter revealing a secret that has shadowed him since youth.

Written in 1914, toward the end of Soseki's career, Kokoro provides a timeless psychological analysis of man's alienation from society. It is recognized as one of his most important works and a milestone in the emergence of the psychological novel in Japan. Its universal themes of friendship, betrayal and the struggle for meaning in a rapidly changing world continue to resonate today.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9784805319796

Publisher: Tuttle Publishing

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 28 October 2025

Country: United States

Imprint: Tuttle Publishing

Contributors:

  • Translated by Edwin McClellan
  • Introduction by J. Keith Vincent

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 130.0mm

Height: 203.0mm

Weight: 295g

Pages: 256

About the Author

Soseki Natsume is the pen name of Kinnosuke Natsume, born in 1867 in Japan. A prolific author of poetry, fiction and essays, Soseki wrote some of Japan's most beloved novels, including I Am a Cat, Botchan, and Kokoro. He is so revered in Japan that his image appeared on the 1000 Yen banknote for many years. Edwin McClellan was a leading scholar, translator and professor of Japanese literature at Yale University. He is noted for his translations of Soseki's Kokoro and Grass on the Wayside, and is the author of Two Japanese Novelists: Soseki and Toson. He was awarded the Noma Prize for literary translation and the Japanese government's Order of the Rising Sun. J. Keith Vincent teaches Japanese literature at Boston University, where he also directs the MFA Program in Literary Translation. His translations include A Riot of Goldfish by Kanoko Okamoto, Devils in Daylight by Junichiro Tanizaki, and Soseki's novel Michikusa, forthcoming from Tuttle.

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    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...
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  • 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...
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    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...
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    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...
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    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...
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