Botchan, written with a lot of humor and sarcasm is so different, it’s hard to believe they were by the same author. I read one other work by this author (1867-1916), Botchan, about a schoolboy, which is totally different in outlook and style. It’s fascinating to get into the minds of these men in early 1900’s in Japan and see the workings of a culture so strange to modern-day outlooks and values. It’s story of Sensei’s youth, love, a love triangle, and suicide.Ī good story, although I thought Sensei’s story was a bit dragged out. Part three, about half of the book, is Sensei’s story told in a long testament written to the young man. It’s the end of Old Japan and the start of the new. The last Meiji emperor died (1912) and his right-hand military man General Nogi Maresuke commits ritual suicide. Meanwhile traumatic events have happened in Japan. He turns down his family’s urgings to settle down and marry a cousin.

Despite his mother’s urgings and dying father’s pleas for him to get a job, the young man seems to want to emulate his sensei and do nothing. Years go by as the young man graduates from college. The second part of the story focuses on the young man’s home life. He warns the young man that when he hears his story his admiration of the old man will turn to disdain and disillusionment. But he promises the young man that he will tell him the story when the time is right. Who that deceased person is becomes the key to the story. His only activity is making a monthly visit a grave at a local cemetery. Sensei has no real friends other than the young man. He seems to be a scholar but doesn’t read or write, he just “hangs out.” The interesting thing about the “wise” old man is that he does nothing. Over time he develops a strong admiration for him, visiting at his home and calling him Sensei. The main character is a young man, a college student, who meets an older man at a beach resort.

Kokoro natsume soseki