Soseki Natsume 夏目漱石
Soseki Natsume (1867-1916), who was born in Tokyo in the first year of the Meiji Restoration, depicted the sufferings and confusion of intellectuals during Japan's period of rapid modernization and Westernization. Originally trained in classical Chinese studies, he studied English literature at Tokyo University and then in London from 1900 to 1903. When he returned, he lectured on literary theory and criticism at Tokyo University until he resigned to write fiction for the Asahi shimbun newspaper. He contributed to the modernization of Japanese literature by introducing the genre of the realistic novel. His writings remain relevant cultural dialogues between new and old, the West and Japan.