Author · 1867–1916

夏目漱石Natsume Sōseki · なつめ そうせき

Natsume Sōseki (1867–1916) is one of the most important novelists of modern Japan. He studied English literature at Tokyo Imperial University and later spent time studying in London on a government scholarship. After teaching English, he became famous with 吾輩は猫である (I Am a Cat) and 坊っちゃん (Botchan). He then left academia to write fiction as a staff writer for the Asahi Shimbun, which serialised many of his works, including こころ (Kokoro). His portrait appeared on the Japanese 1000-yen note for many years.

夢十夜 — Ten Nights, Ten Dreams

N2 15,837 characters

Ten Nights, Ten Dreams is a sequence of ten short, unconnected dream-stories. The first night opens with the phrase こんな夢を見た ("I had a dream like this"), and each dream is told in the first person by a narrator who calls himself 自分. A man…