Walk from Kagurazaka to the Natsume Soseki Memorial Museum in Shinjuku
Tracing the Footsteps of Natsume Soseki, Author of “I Am a Cat” and “Kokoro” Today, we will introduce the life of Natsume Soseki and the Natsume Soseki Memorial Museum, which is about a 10 to 15-minute walk from Kagurazaka Station on the Tokyo Metro. The Natsume Soseki Memorial Museum is built on the site where the great literary figure Natsume Soseki, known worldwide for works such as “I Am a Cat” and “Kokoro,” lived and wrote. The museum opened on September 24, 2017, marking the 150th anniversary of Soseki’s birth. Soseki and Shinjuku Ward (Waseda/Kagurazaka) The Shinjuku ward, where Soseki was born, raised, and spent his final days, is rich with places connected to his life. The name of the area where Soseki was born, Kikuicho, Shinjuku, was named by Soseki’s father, Naokatsu Natsume, who was the headman of the area at the time. The name derives from the Natsume family’s crest, “a chrysanthemum in a well frame.” Similarly, a slope near Soseki’s birthplace was named “Natsume-zaka” after the family. Soseki’s novels and essays frequently mention names of places in Shinjuku, and temples and shrines still found in the ward appear in his works. Soseki’s diaries and letters record his