

Perhaps as a result, there is also no overt or sustained system of imagery.

So why then, when I first read it, was I so disappointed? In short, I couldn’t help thinking, “Is this it?” Kokoro contains few lyrical passages, few descriptions of landscape, season, architecture, interior, or dress. In short, this novel is kind of a big deal. A quick search on Google will turn up numerous syllabi for courses in Japanese literature that all begin with Kokoro. His early novel Botchan (坊っちゃん, 1905, recently translated by Joel Cohn) has been required reading for generations of Japanese schoolchildren, and his portrait used to grace the one thousand yen bill. Sōseki is one of the major figures in the Japanese literary canon, if not in fact the major figure. I remember being disappointed and a bit confused by it, however. When I first started studying Japanese literature in college, Natsume Sōseki’s Kokoro was one of the first modern novels I read. GradeSaver, 22 June 2015 Web.Publication Year: 1957 (America) 1914 (Japan) Next Section Glossary Previous Section Kokoro Summary Buy Study Guide How To Cite in MLA Format Lin, Alexander. The motherless son of a Buddhist priest, K is an extremely idealistic, determined, and indifferent young man who has been Sensei's friend since the two were young. 'Okusan' is the polite form of address for someone else's wife.

Sensei calls her by her name, Shizu but in the context of his story she is called 'Ojosan,' which is the polite form of address for 'young lady' or 'daughter'. Sensei's Wife / OjosanĪ very beautiful woman whose seemingly simpleminded nature belies her strong emotional intuition. The Narrator's MotherĪ kindly and simpleminded country woman. The Narrator's FatherĪ pleasant and simpleminded old country man who is suffering from kidney disease.

He hints of his dark past, but never reveals it. Although he is weary of the world in general, he becomes a mentor of sorts for the narrator. SenseiĪn enigmatic man who lives a reclusive and idle life with his wife. Youthful and earnest, he is drawn to Sensei but feels alienated from his family. The unnamed narrator, a well-off young man from the countryside, attends university in Tokyo.
