Summary

This is the final section of Natsume Soseki's most celebrated novel, written entirely as a lengthy confessional letter from a character known only as 'Sensei' to his young disciple. Soseki is widely regarded as the father of modern Japanese literature, and this work is read by virtually every Japanese high school student. The epistolary format and the themes of guilt, isolation, and moral self-examination reflect the intense spiritual struggles of Meiji-era intellectuals caught between traditional Japanese values and newly imported Western individualism.