Natsume Sōseki , pen name Sōseki, born Natsume Kin'nosuke , was a Japanese novelist. He is best known for his novels Kokoro, Botchan, I Am a Cat, Kusamakura and his unfinished work Light and Darkness. He was also a scholar of British literature and writer of haiku and kanshi poetry and fairy tales.
Sōseki on 13 September 1912 (day of Emperor Meiji's funeral)
Sōseki as English teacher at Matsuyama Middle School (1896)
Natsume Sōseki's lodgings in Clapham, South London
Sōseki in his study (1906)
Haiku is a type of short form poetry that originated in Japan. Traditional Japanese haiku consist of three phrases composed of 17 phonetic units in a 5, 7, 5 pattern; that include a kireji, or "cutting word"; and a kigo, or seasonal reference. However, haiku by classical Japanese poets, such as Matsuo Bashō, also deviate from the 17-on pattern and sometimes do not contain a kireji. Similar poems that do not adhere to these rules are generally classified as senryū.
Haiku by Matsuo Bashō reading "Quietly, quietly, / yellow mountain roses fall – / sound of the rapids"
Grave of Yosa Buson