The Gate

Soseki is the representative modern Japanese novelist, a figure of truly national stature

Soseki is the representative modern Japanese novelist, a figure of truly national stature

A sensitive, skilfully written novel by the most widely read Japanese author of modern times

Soseki's prose is so delicate that each page is like looking at a set of dreamy watercolours

The Gate is not so much tragic or comic as a graceful balance between the dispiriting and the humorous... A masterpiece of taste and clarity. Francis Mathy's translation must be warmly commended

Natsume Soseki (1867-1916) was one of Japan's most prominent novelists of the Meiji Era. After studying in England on a government scholarship, Soseki taught English literature at Tokyo University, but the immense success of his satirical novel I Am a Cat led to his own career as a writer. A highly influential figure viewed as the father of modern Japanese letters, from 1984 until 2004 his portrait appeared on the front of the Japanese 1,000-yen note. Pushkin Press publish several of his major novels, including Kokoro and The Three-Cornered World.