Kokoro

Kokoro is a 1914 novel by Japanese author Natsume Sōseki. Set during the end of the Meiji Restoration, the novel explores how changing Japanese society profoundly effects an older and a younger man as they strike up an unlikely friendship. The novel was initially serialized in the Asahi Shimbun newspaper over the course of five months. The serialized novel was titled Kokoro: Sensei no Isho, though this was shortened for the print run of the novel to simply Kokoro, which translates variously as heart, mind, affection, courage, and resolve. Kokoro is one of the best-selling novels in Japan and has been hailed as one of the country’s most important works of 20th-century literature.

This guide uses an eBook version of the 2010 Penguin Books edition, translated into English by Meredith McKinney.

Content Warning: This novel and guide contain frequent references to suicide.

Plot Summary

In Part 1, the unnamed narrator of Kokoro describes his first encounter with an older man. He chooses to refer to his new friend by the title Sensei to preserve his anonymity. He meets Sensei while on vacation and begins to develop a deep friendship with the man, even though he cannot quite define Sensei’s character.