In the early 20th Century, Japanese literature went through a significant renaissance and perhaps the best known Japanese author of the period was Natsume Kinosuke, or Soseki as he would become known.
His novel Kokoro, published in 1914 is considered one of the most important works in the establishment of modernism in Japanese literature. Soseki is revered as the father of the modern novel in Japan and has been likened to Charles Dickens.
Natsume Kinosuke was born in Edo in 1867. His father was a relatively powerful administrator from an ancient, although minor samurai family. The last of six children, Natsume was farmed out to a childless couple for most of his younger years. When he was finally returned to his parents at age seven he was often beaten and treated poorly. This trauma would appear in many of his later books.
Japan’s self imposed isolation had ended in the 1850s and the country was going through tremendous changes as a result of contacts with the western world. The Meiji Restoration meant that Natsume’s father lost his prestigious position and Natsume was forced to attend public school in Tokyo. He was an indifferent student and achieved little. But a local writer noticed some talent in the young Natsume’s writings and encouraged him to write more. Natsume adopted a nom-de-plume, styling himself Soseki.
Soseki did enough to get into Tokyo Imperial University, where he studied English. He became a much more dedicated student and worked hard but suffered the first of a number of nervous breakdowns.
After leaving university in 1893, Soseki began work as a teacher, continuing in the profession for seven years. In 1900, he succeeded in getting a government grant to study in England. Soseki, unfortunately found the experience to be lonely and depressing. He felt excluded from London society and did not fit in with any community. He spent the time in his small room studying English literature and writing. His thoughts on his stay in England would be published in 1909 and his observations on the English would appear in his novel…..set in England.
Upon his return to Japan he won a position as a professor at Imperial University lecturing on English Literature and Literary Theory.
Soseki published his first work in 1905. The semi autobiographical short story Wagahai wa neko de aru (I Am a Cat), was narrated by a cat and appeared in the literary magazine Hotoguisu. Soseki would expand the story into a full novel. The following year, Soseki published a novel, Botchan, based on his experiences as a teacher. The protagonist, a young bumbling outsider, in conflict with family and society who strives to fit in became the archetypal character in a number of his novels such as Nowaki (1907), Sanshiro (1908) and Kofu (1908).
In 1907, Soseki quit his university post to write and act as the literary editor of newspaper Asahi Shimbun. His output was prodigious. From 1907 to 1916 Soseki wrote 14 novels, including Kokoro. Soseki was likened to English author Charles Dickens in that many of his stories were first serialized in magazines before appearing as novels. Kokoro was first published in serialized form in Asahi.
Soseki’s main themes dealt with the rapid industrialism of Japan and the conflicts of individuality, isolation, and cultural identity. While heavily influence by his time in England, his novel Kairo Ko for example was a version of the Arthurian legend set in Japan, he was critical of Japan’s embrace of western culture.
In 1916, Soseki succumbed to stomach cancer at the age of 49.

Kokoro

Typically of Soseki’s novels the main character is a youth referred to as “I.” None of the main characters in Kokoro  have full names. Sensei is a teacher, K is Sensei's friend, Young Lady is the daughter of a widow who runs a boarding-house.
Kokoro is literally translated as “heart,” or it can mean “the heart of things” or “feelings.”
I sees the Sensei, or teacher with a foreigner on a beach and resolves to meet the teacher. The narrator gets to know Sensei and his wife. In his discussions with the sensei, the narrator examines Japan’s transition to the modern era and explores the idea of isolation. The sensei is distant, however, and reveals little of his early life.
The second part of the novel sees the narrator leave the sensei and return home to tend to his dying father. He explores his relationships with his family and particularly his father. But –as his father lays dying, I receives a letter from the sensei who details his early life and his how he was betrayed by his relatives, cheated of a fortune. He also explains how he too betrayed his friend K over a woman and how K killed himself in despair. The sensei explains how these events have turned him against society and made him bitter and cynical. Finally, he reveals he will take his own life in the traditional samurai fashion, following the example of the Meiji emperor.