The Father of the Modern Japanese Cat Novel

It is incredible, perhaps fascinating to witness how cats – the most unassuming of animals – have been woven into the rich tapestry of Japanese literature. Staunch readers of works of Japanese literature have, at any point in time, encountered one of these works. Haruki Murakami, perhaps the most globally recognized of the living Japanese writers, used cats as leitmotifs in his works. For instance, Kafka on the Shore (海辺のカフカ, Umibe no Kafuka, 2002) featured a character, Nakata, who can speak to cats while the titular Kafka gravitated toward cats. At the heart of The Wind-up Bird Chronicle (ねじまき鳥クロニクル Nejimaki-dori kuronikuru, 1994-1995) was Toru Okada, a man who loved cats more than he loved any of the women he encountered. Jun’ichirō Tanizaki, an equally revered name in Japanese literature, also made his contribution to this growing “sub-genre” by publishing the novella A Cat, a Man, and Two Women (猫と庄造と二人の女, Neko to Shōzō to futari no onna) in 1936.

Beyond Murakami and Tanizaki, the prevalence of Japanese novels that featured feline characters has become more pronounced in recent years, adding an interesting texture to the landscape of contemporary Japanese literature. Nowhere has this been more prevalent than in the past few decades as Japanese writers used cats as vessels to explore a variety of subjects, such as death, change, literature, and life in general. Among the titles that were recently made available to anglophone readers are Hiro Arikawa’s The Travelling Cat Chronicles, Takahashi Hiraide’s The Guest Cat, and Genki Kawamura’s If Cats Disappeared from the World. Each book tickled the imagination of many a reader across the world, further underscoring the power and influence that Japanese literature has.

But before any of these works rose to prominence, it has got to start somewhere. It is not a phenomenon that simply springs out randomly. Like a tree that blossomed, the idea was first planted as a seed. As one navigates the complex but equally rich labyrinth of modern Japanese literature, one will inevitably encounter Natsume Sōseki’s I Am a Cat (吾輩は猫である, Wagahai wa Neko de Aru). One of his most enduring works that transcended time, I Am a Cat is considered by many as one of the pillars of modern Japanese literature. Moreover, it was not only the precursor for this current trend but can also be considered the parent of all these feline works.

“It is of course true that the human creature characteristically prides itself on its self-reliance. However, it would be more exact to say that the creature, knowing it can’t rely upon itself, would very much like to believe that it could and is consequently never at ease with itself until it can give a practical demonstration to some other such creature of how much it can rely upon itself.”

~ Natsume Sōseki, I Am a Cat

However, what went down as one of the most recognized and most important works of modern Japanese literature nearly did not materialize. It all started with a short story Sōseki wrote and published in the literary magazine Hototogisu (Cuckoo) on January 10, 1905. However, he had no intentions of going beyond this single short story. The short story elicited a warm reception and positive feedback from the reading public and literary pundits, surprising Sōseki. Its popularity prompted Takahama Kyoshi, one of the editors of Hototogisu, to persuade Sōseki to serialize the work. Sōseki relented and wrote ten more installments that were published from 1905 to 1906. It was subsequently published in a three-volume form. Volume 1 appeared in October 1905, Volume 2 in November 1906, and Volume 3 in May 1907. The English translation of the book was released in 1972, with the first installment of the series would constituting the first chapter of the novel.

“I am a cat. As yet I have no name.” Thus, the novel commenced. The titular cat was a stray alley kitten who was saved from inevitable starvation and death by a family of modest means and abilities. Interestingly, the family never gave the cat a name, an indication that his presence was neither acknowledged nor welcomed by the members of the household. Nevertheless, he saw himself as a “family cat” who then proceeded to capture the portrait of the family who de facto adopted him. At the helm of the household was Mr. Sneaze; the misspelling was deliberate and was simply referred to as “master” in the opening chapters of the story. He was a Tokyo high school English teacher who was often drawn to various forms of the arts such as poetry, drawing, and music.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Sneaze was the antithesis of the head of the household. She was spirited and had no scruples challenging her husband’s masculine and pigheaded ways. Mr. and Mrs. Sneaze had three young children. As the story moved forward, more characters were introduced as family friends gathered at the Sneaze household to spend their time drinking, eating, or simply exchanging views and opinions. Among the regular visitors of the household are Avalon Coldmoon, a young scholar and a former student of Mr. Sneaze; Waverhouse, a long-time family friend who shared Mr. Sneaze’s interest in the arts; and Beauchamp Blowlamp, a poet. Each of these characters approached Mr. Sneaze and conveyed their own concerns. Snatches of interactions between these individuals formed the backbone of the story.

“If one tapped the deep bottom of the hearts of these seemingly light-hearted people, it would give a somewhat sad sound,” the cat observed. Like the other feline works that succeeded I Am A Cat, the cat at the heart of Sōseki’s masterpiece was used as a vessel to observe his surroundings, particularly the interactions between Mr. Sneaze and his circle of friends. He was a means to observe and capture human behavior, from the complex to the quotidian. The lazy and stubborn Mr. Sneaze was enough to capture the fancy of the cat but the distinct voices of his friends provided the cat more materials to weave into his canvas. The result was a pessimistic, at times sardonic tale.

“In the old days, a man was taught to forget himself. Today it is quite different: he is taught not to forget himself and he accordingly spends his days and nights in endless self-regard. Who can possibly know peace in such an eternally burning hell? The apparent realities of this awful world, even the beast lines of being, are all symptoms of that sickness for which the only cure lies in learning to forget the self.”

~ Natsume Sōseki, I Am a Cat

The novel was bereft of a robust or complex plot and structure. Rather, Sōsek provided several plotlines, some more fully developed than others; this was perhaps the downside of the serialized text. Among the major plotlines concerned the possibility of a marriage between Coldmoon and Opula Goldfield. The Goldfiends were Mr. Sneaze’s neighbors and were well-endowed. Another key action in the story involves the burglary of the Sneaze household; the cat observes as the action takes place. The thief took a heavy box he thought contained great riches, e.g. jewelry, and cash. The joke’s on the thief as the box contained yam. While the yam is seen as mundane by the spectator, to a household that was struggling financially, it was the most valuable item.

Despite the thin plot, what propelled the story was the manner in which the cat conveyed his observation of human foibles, and on the whole, of the Meiji era (1868-1912) society. Sōseki, as demonstrated in his works, has always been critical of the society he was born in. In particular, I Am A Cat zoomed in on the middle class’ growing fascination with intellectual pursuit. It was portrayed to be superficial. Mr. Sneaze, for instance, was obsessed with purchasing books. However, he does not read these books to broaden his knowledge base, rather he uses them as a form of sleeping pill. Tsundoku (積ん読), a term used to describe the tendency for incessant book purchases without any intention of reading them or simply letting them gather dust on the bookshelves, was coined during this era. As Mrs. Sneaze would ruminate on her husband’s tendencies: “He has no secret vices, but he is totally abandoned in the way he buys book after book, never to read a single one.”

In a way, I Am A Cat is both a character study and a social commentary. Sōseki’s most scathing albeit critical examinations were of these two subjects. He was critical of his characters and, indirectly, the social class they were part of. In the background, important historical events were happening, such as the Japanese-Russo War. Political and social upheavals, which have great consequences, were mentioned but mostly offhandedly. These subjects were rarely discussed in depth. The conversations between the main characters, however, were mainly on the minutiae of their quotidian lives. The contents of Mr. Sneaze’s post, for instance, took more attention. Interestingly, the characters had an unnatural preoccupation with physical appearances, both of themselves and other people. Elsewhere, the generation gap and the rise of individuality were highlighted in the story.

The discussions and debates of the main characters straddled the philosophical and literary. While these subjects seem serious and complex on the surface, Sōseki weaponized these discourses to further underline the satirical quality of his novel. The discourses involved a variety of subjects, from complex subjects such as marriage, marriage, the dynamics of death by hanging, and even the direction humanity is taking. Some of the more spontaneous subjects included ancient Greek athletic contests, the functions of noses, and even the proper way of eating buckwheat noodles. These discourses and debates were generally interesting, mostly humorous but some arguments were over the top. One example involved the discussion on suicide where it was suggested that “the study of suicide will have replaced ethics as a compulsory subject.”

“At ordinary times, most human beings are wearisomely ordinary; depressingly banal in appearance and deadly boring in their conversation. However, at certain moments, by some peculiar, almost supernatural, process their normal triviality can be transformed into something so weird and wonderful that no feline scholar of their species can afford to miss any occasion when that transformation seems likely to take place.”

~ Natsume Sōseki, I Am a Cat

Their superficiality and the pretentious quality of their discourses on a wide range of subjects, however, were not lost on the cat. It was his sardonic view and attitude that kept the story together. His wit made the discourses of the human characters more entertaining. The more that the cat gets preoccupied with his observations of human interactions, the more he becomes attuned to the behavior and responses of the humans around him. This preoccupation also had its downside. At one point, he even ruminated that felt less like a cat and more like a human being. He attributed the loss of his feline instincts to his new world. For a cat, he was not able to catch any house rats although he did try to prove his worth but it was for naught.

But before he got so immersed in the world of humans, the novel’s narrator did have interactions with other felines living in the neighborhood, such as the rickshaw man’s giant cat named Black and “sensei”, a flirtatious tabby owned by a sensei, hence, the name he adopted for himself. However, with the commencement of the third section, these interactions were totally removed as the focus shifted to the cat’s observations of human foibles: “Living as I do with human beings, the more that I observe them, the more I am forced to conclude that they are selfish.” The cat occasionally goes outside but only as an extension of his preoccupation with human interactions; the object of his curiosity is the wealthy Kaneda family.

The novel featured characters who were flawed. Their psychological frame was captured by the cat’s sardonic narration. The characters’ views were comical, at times extreme. They were unable to sympathize with each other and found it hard to find beauty in one another. They were critical of each other and of themselves; even the cat was critical of himself and was keenly aware of his own shortcomings. Despite their flaws and self-flagellations, they were not totally undeserving of the reader’s sympathy. Mr. Sneaze, for instance, was whimsical most of the time but he was still aware of his limitations and he was unafraid of admitting it.

What was also palpable in the novel was the infancy of Sōseki’s talent for full-length prose; prior to I Am A Cat, Sōseki’s writing was mainly comprised of short stories. At this stage in his literary career, it was perceptible that his writing approach and style were not yet fully developed. While his prose was descriptive, the style was not consistent from one chapter to another. This can be attributed, in part, to the novel’s original form. The serialization of the novel gives the novel an overall episodic feel which pulls the readers in different directions. Sōseki was still able to connect the storylines across the eleven installments. However, the varying style and focus were apparent and made up for an inconsistent and uneven story.

“Artfulness, uncharitableness, self-defensive wariness: these are the fruits of worldly learning. The penalty of age is this rather ugly knowingness. Which would seem to explain why one never finds among the old a single decent person. They know too much to see things straight, to feel things cleanly, to act without compromise.”

~ Natsume Sōseki, I Am a Cat

The novel’s blemishes, however, do little to dim its bright light. The strange mix of techniques gave the novel an interesting texture. What still came through was the cat and his pessimistic and sarcastic narrative. His witty observation of human foibles, and by extension, of the Meiji middle-class society elevated the story. Through the cat, readers were provided glimpses into the author and his life; Mr. Sneaze was a distorted version of the author himself. The novel also provided insights into the intellectual life in Japan during that period. A story that transcends time, I Am A Cat was not without its blemishes but it was, nevertheless, a testament to one of the most revered names in modern Japanese literature. Natsume Sōseki, born Natsume Kin’nosuke, further built a formidable resume with equally popular works like Botchan (坊っちゃん, 1906) and Kokoro (こころ, 1914). No less than Haruki Murakami has cited him as one of his major influences.

Ratings

92%

Characters (30%) – 28%
Plot (30%) – 25%
Writing (25%) – 24%
Overall Impact (15%) – 15%

Natsume Sōseki’s I Am a Cat is a book that has long been on my (badly) want-to-read list. The first time I encountered the novel during one of my random trips to the bookstore – this was about three to four years ago – the book immediately captured my fancy. I don’t know why but the book had a very strong pull. However, I held back on purchasing the book. I was hoping to find a hardbound copy of the book. Alas, the opportunity never presented itself. It did not help that I can no longer keep the tenterhook; after reading several feline-related works of Japanese literature in April, it has become even more imperative to read the modern classic. Without more ado, I obtained a copy of the book and made it part of my May 2023 reading journey. Yes, I am finally reading the precursor of all these cat-related works; there is a recent spate of books with cats in Japanese literature. Also, finally, I am reading one of the books I have been looking forward to. It was interesting, to say the least. The narrator and his sardonic voice elevated the story. It is no wonder that the book is highly revered in the ambit of Japanese literature.

Book Specs

Author: Natsume Sōseki
Translator (from Japanese): Aiko Ito, Graeme Wilson
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
Publishing Date: 2002 (1906)
Number of Pages: 469
Genre: Literary, Historical

Synopsis

“I am a cat. As yet I have no name.”

So beings one of the most original and unforgettable works in Japanese literature.

Richly allegorical and delightfully readable, I Am a Cat is the chronicle of an unloved, unwanted, wandering kitten who spends all his time observing human nature – from the drams of businessmen and schoolteachers to the foibles of priests and potentates. From this unique perspective, author Sōseki Natsume offers a biting commentary – shaped by his training n Chinese philosophy – on the social upheaval of the Meiji era.

I Am a Cat first appeared in ten installments in the literary magazine Hototogisu (Cuckoo) between 1905 and 1906. Sōseki had not intended to write more than the short story that makes up the first chapter of this book. After its great critical and popular success, he expanded it into this epic novel, which is universally recognized as a classic of world literature.

About the Author

To know more about Natsume Sōseki (夏目 漱石), click here.