Soseki Natsume's Kokoro: The Manga Edition: The Heart of Things

By Natsume Soseki and Makiko Itoh

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 wife open their home and their lives to him. Only later does the student learn the devastating secret that has haunted Sensei since his youth.

Kokoro has sold millions of copies in Japan where it is taught in schools and is a perennial favorite. Its lucid prose and universal themes of friendship, betrayal and the struggle for meaning in a changing world have made it popular internationally as well. This English-language manga version will make the book accessible to a new generation of foreign readers.

The manga includes depictions of suicide and may not be suitable for some readers.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
• Release date: Apr 23, 2024
• ISBN: 9781462924745

Natsume Soseki

Natsume Sōseki (1867-1916) was a Japanese novelist. Born in Babashita, a town in the Edo region of Ushigome, Sōseki was the youngest of six children. Due to financial hardship, he was adopted by a childless couple who raised him from 1868 until their divorce eight years later, at which point Sōseki returned to his biological family. Educated in Tokyo, he took an interest in literature and went on to study English and Chinese Classics while at the Tokyo Imperial University. He started his career as a poet, publishing haiku with the help of his friend and fellow-writer Masaoka Shiki. In 1895, he found work as a teacher at a middle school in Shikoku, which would serve as inspiration for his popular novel Botchan (1906). In 1900, Sōseki was sent by the Japanese government to study at University College London. Later described as “the most unpleasant years in [his] life,” Sōseki’s time in London introduced him to British culture and earned him a position as a professor of English literature back in Tokyo. Recognized for such novels as Sanshirō (1908) and Kokoro (1914), Sōseki was a visionary artist whose deep commitment to the life of humanity has earned him praise from such figures as Haruki Murakami, who named Sōseki as his favorite writer.

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