Natsume Soseki Chronology (1867-1916)

 

1867

Feb 9, 1867. Natsume Kinnosuke born in Edo, the fifth son and youngest of eight children (father, Kōhe: 1818–1897; mother, Chie: 1827–1881).

1868

Nov 1868. Adopted by Shiohara family (Shōnosuke and wife, Yasu), who were in Kōhe’s circle.

1875

Returns to natal home from Shioharas late in the year (exact date unknown), following the couple’s divorce. Keeps Shiohara surname, though, until January 1888.

1878

Excels in school, winning several awards.

1879

Enters First Middle School, in Hitotsubashi.

1880

Babashita house burns down. Family moves to Ushigome.

1881

Jan 9, 1881. Mother dies. Enters Nishō Academy, with its traditional Chinese curriculum.

1882

Spring 1882. Leaves Nishō Academy.

1883

Growing interest in literature. Enters Seiritsu Academy in Kanda, to prepare for matriculation into the university preparatory school (daigaku yobimon). Meets Ōta Tatsujin; first experience of dormitory life.

1884

September: Enters daigaku yobimon. Classmates include Nakamura Zekō and Haga Yaichi in addition to Ōta.

1885

At daigaku yobimon. Shares lodgings with Nakamura. Focus on English composition (occupies him through 1892).

1886

Daigaku yobimon becomes First Higher School (collegelevel curriculum). Gets teaching position at Etō Academy, with Nakamura, to help defray living expenses.

July 1886. Stomach problems.

1887

Mar-June 1887. Death of two older brothers, Daisuke and Einosuke, both stricken with tuberculosis.

1888

Jan 1888. Officially retakes Natsume surname. Transfers to English literature program at First Higher School, having decided not to pursue architecture.

1889

Befriends Masaoka Shiki, a literarily gifted classmate. Growing interest in poetry; first ventures into haiku. Adopts pen name Sōseki.

1890

Graduates First Higher School and enters Tokyo Imperial University. Receives a Monbushō scholarship. Studies English literature. Writes and publishes haiku and kanshi.

1892

May 1892. Lectures at Tokyo Senmon Gakkō (modern-day Waseda University).

Aug 1892. Visits Shiki, who had withdrawn from the university, in Matsuyama (Shikoku); meets and befriends Takahama Kyoshi.

1893

Active in literary translation and criticism. Studies aesthetics at university with Professor Koeber.

July 1893. Graduates from the Imperial University, in English literature, and enters its graduate program.

1894

Experiences tubercular symptoms early in the year.

Aug 1894. Sino-Japanese war commences.

Oct 1894. Leaves university lodgings and moves to temple compound in Koishikawa.

Dec 1894. Moves to Enkakuji temple in Kamakura, intent on a regimen of Zen meditation.

1895

Apr 1895. Travels to Matsuyama to assume teaching position at the middle school. Shiki, a native of the city, returns from his correspondent post covering the war, having taken ill, and moves in with Sōseki for several months (August–September). Begins period of active haiku composition and publication.

Dec 1895. Returns to Tokyo. Becomes engaged to Nakane Kyōko, daughter of secretary to House of Peers.

1896

Active with Shiki’s Negishi haiku circle in Tokyo.

Apr 1896. Assumes teaching post in Kumamoto (Kyūshū), at the Fifth Higher School.

June 9, 1896. Marries Kyōko.

1897

Mar 1897. Publishes essay on Sterne’s Tristram Shandy.

June 29, 1897. Father dies.

July 1897. Kyōko suffers miscarriage, shows signs of depression. Spends summer in Tokyo, deeply engaged in haiku activity with Shiki and the Negishi circle.

Sep 1897. Returns to Kumamoto; continues to publish haiku.

1898

In Kumamoto.

Late June 1898. Kyōko suffers from depression and attempts suicide by drowning; is rescued. Terada Torahiko becomes his student; would be a lifelong friend.

1899

In Kumamoto.

May 1899. Eldest daughter, Fudeko, is born.

Sep 1899. Begins utai practice.

1900

June 1900. Notified of selection as one of three Monbushō Scholars in a new program that would entail a two-year period of foreign study, which would prepare one to assume a key university post. Stipend of 1800 yen per year.

July 1900. Returns to Tokyo with pregnant wife and child.

Sep 8, 1900. Boards the Preussen and sets sail for England, arriving in London on October 28.

Nov 7, 1900. Audits Professor Ker’s class at University College.

Nov 22, 1900. First visit with Professor Craig; their weekly tutorial, on Tuesdays, would last until October 1901.

Dec 1900. Indications, in letters to Kyōko, of disenchantment with London life.

1901

Jan 1901. Second daughter, Tsuneko, born.

Jan 22, 1901. Death of Queen Victoria; funeral on February 2.

Feb 1901. Incidence of stomach ulcers.

July 20, 1901. Moves into his fifth and final London boardinghouse, at 81 The Chase.

Aug 3, 1901. Visits Carlyle Museum, with Ikeda Kikunae.

1902

Serious psychological symptoms.

Sep 1902. On the advice of his landlady and doctor, takes up bicycling to help alleviate his mental disturbance.

Sep 19, 1902. Shiki dies.

Oct 1902. Visits Pitlochry, in Scotland.

Dec 5, 1902. Leaves England.

1903

Jan 24, 1903. Returns to Tokyo; moves in with his family in Ushigome.

Mar 1903. Moves into Sendagi house, which had been occupied by Mori Ōgai.

Apr 1903. Assumes joint posts at the First Higher School and the Imperial University.

May 22, 1903. Suicide of his student, Fujimura Misao, which proves very disturbing.

June 1903. Publishes Jitensha nikki.

June 1903. Serious episodes of psychopathology; Professor Kure provides shinkei suijaku (neurasthenia) diagnosis. Recurring marital problems.

July 1903. Kyōko leaves, returning to her family; in September, when the situation improves, she returns home.

Oct 1903. Avid practice of watercolor and calligraphy.

Nov 1903. Third daughter, Eiko, is born.

1904

Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905). Active involvement in literary translation, poetry, criticism. Begins danwa interviews. Late in the year, encouraged by Kyoshi, starts composing Wagahai wa neko de aru (I Am a Cat).

1905

Neko (serialization in Hototogisu, 1905–1906).

Jan 1905. Publishes “Tower of London” and “Carlyle Museum.”

Sep 15, 1905. House is burglarized.

Dec 1905. Fourth daughter, Aiko, is born.

1906

Young proteges begin visiting the home on a regular basis.

Apr 1906. Botchan serialization begins.

Sep 1906. Kusamakura (The Three-Cornered World) serialization begins.

Oct 1906. First “official” session of the Mokuyōkai (Thursday Society).

Dec 1906. Moves from Sendagi to Nishi Katamachi.

1907

Apr 1907. Resigns from the Imperial University and his other teaching posts.

May 3, 1907 Joins the staff of the Tokyo Asahi Shinbun, as the highestpaid staff writer.

May 1907. Jun’ichi, eldest son, is born.

June 1907. Bungakuron (Theory of Literature) is published.

June 1907. Serialization of Gubijinsō (The Poppy), first Asahi-based novel, begins. All subsequent novels would be serialized in the Asahi.

Sep 29, 1907. Moves to Waseda, his final residence.

1908

Jan 1908. Serialization of Kōfu (The Miner) begins.

June 1908. Serialization of Bunchō (The Java Sparrow).

July 1908. Serialization of Yume jūya (Ten Nights of Dream).

Sep 1908. Serialization of Sanshirō begins.

Dec 1908. Second son, Shinroku, is born.

1909

Jan 1909. Serialization of Eijitsu shōhin (Spring Miscellany) begins.

June 1909. Serialization of Sorekara (And Then) begins.

Sep 6–Oct 13, 1909. Trip to Manchuria and Korea, under the auspices of friend Nakamura Zekō, director of the Southern Manchuria Railway. Serialization of travel account, Mankan tokorodokoro (Here and There in Manchuria and Korea).

Nov 1909. Asahi literary column (bungeiran) is inaugurated, with Sōseki as editor.

1910

Mar 1910. Serialization of Mon (The Gate) begins.

Mar 1910. Fifth daughter, Hinako, is born.

June 1910. Enters Nagayo clinic with serious ulcerative condition.

Aug 1910. Moves to Shuzenji, on Izu Peninsula, for convalescence.

Aug 24, 1910. Near-death episode (Shuzenji taikan).

Oct 1910. Returns to Tokyo, for further convalescence in Nagayo clinic.

Oct 1910. Serialization of Omoidasu koto nado (Recollections) begins.

1911

Feb 1911. Refuses Monbushō honorary doctorate (gakui).

June 1911. Travels to Nagano for a lecturing stint.

Aug 1911. Travels to Osaka and environs for a series of four lectures (published in 1913 as Shakai to jibun [Society and Self ]).

Aug–Sep 1911. Recurrence of ulcerative disorder; hospitalization.

Nov 11, 1911. Sudden death of daughter Hinako, not yet two years old.

1912

Jan 1912. Serialization of Higan sugi made (To the Spring Equinox and Beyond) begins.

July 30, 1912. Death of Meiji emperor.

Sep 13, 1912. Funeral of Meiji emperor, and ritual suicide (junshi) of General Nogi and his wife.

Dec 1912. Serialization of Kōjin (The Wayfarer); ill health would delay completion until November 1913.

1913

Jan 1913. Recurrence of depression and manic behavior (seishin suijaku).

Mar 1913. Recurrence of stomach ailment; bedridden until May.

Nov 1913. Avid pursuit of watercolor.

1914

Outbreak of First World War.

Apr 1914. Serialization of Kokoro begins.

Sep 1914. Recurrence of stomach ailment; bedridden for a month.

Nov 25, 1914 “Watakushi no kojinshugi” (My Individualism) lecture at Gakushūin.

1915

Jan 1915. Serialization of Garasudo no uchi (Inside My Glass Doors) begins.

Mar 1915. Trip to Kyoto; takes ill.

June 1915. Serialization of Michikusa (Grass on the Wayside) begins.

Nov 1915. Trip to Yugawara, with Nakamura.

Dec 1915. Akutagawa and Kume join the Thursday group as young proteges.

1916

May 1916. Serialization of Meian (Light and Darkness) begins (ending on December 14, following Sōseki’s death, with chapter 188). Finds solace and repose in poetic composition (haiku and kanshi).

Nov 16, 1916. Final Mokuyōkai session.

Nov 22, 1916. Stricken with serious gastric symptoms.

Dec 2, 1916. Internal bleeding; condition worsens.

Dec 9, 1916. Dies, at 6:45 p.m., in his Waseda home.

Dec 12, 1916. Funeral.

Dec 28, 1916. Interment in Zōshigaya.

 

Reff.

Marcus, Marvin. 2009. Reflections in a Glass Door. Honohulu : Univ of Hawai’i Press