Soseki Natsume

Born in Tokyo in 1867, Natsume Sōseki studied English literature and later taught before becoming a full-time writer. He also spent time in London, an experience that deepened his sense of isolation and fed the searching, often uneasy mood found in much of his fiction.

He is best known for novels such as I Am a Cat, Botchan, Sanshirō, Kokoro, and Light and Darkness. His writing moves easily between satire and introspection, and he became one of the most important literary voices of modern Japan.

Sōseki died in 1916, but his reputation only grew after his death. Today he is widely read both in Japan and around the world for fiction that is intelligent, humane, and surprisingly modern in its view of ambition, friendship, and the inner life.