Hashiguchi Goyo and Natsume Soseki : a marriage of visual art and story telling

Hi Charlie! Let me wax eloquent about one of my favourite Japanese authors, Natsume Soseki and his book covers by Hashiguchi Goyo.

Natsume Soseki(whose autonym was Natsume Kinnosuke) is one of the most well-known Japanese authors. He was born in the Keio era (1865-1868) and is the pioneer of modern Japanese literature as he symbolized Japan’s emergence as a modern nation.

            He was printed on the 1000 yen banknote until 2004

Natsume Soseki’s life and writings were indelibly marked by the intersection of late Tokugawa influences and the ambitious modernization project that marked the Meiji period which you can see in the fashion tendency as western-style clothing was introduced for the first time. This movement is known as 文明開化 (bunmei kaika), the enlightenment of civilisation. 

Court Ladies Sewing Western Clothing by Yōshū (Hashimoto) Chikanobu

The fusion of the two cultures creates a chic and exotic style

As with many of his literary contemporaries, poetry was an early passion and a lifelong pursuit. His stature as a poet would alone have established him as a major literary figure. Fiction, though, would be his enduring legacy.

Having been appointed to a prestigious professorship in English Literature at the Imperial University in Tokyo, Soseki found himself more interested in creative writing than what had become an increasingly stultifying academic routine. He published a series of novels, which initially appeared in daily serialization, over the course of a decade. As such, his work became part of the daily reading diet of millions of Japanese.

Hashiguchi Goyo and Natsume Soseki

Hashiguchi Goyo met Soseki when he debuted in his art career. The novelist appreciated his style ; a slightly Art Nouveau nuance that echoes of the Pre-Raphaelite style with which Soseki became familiar during his stay in London. He designed most of Soseki's book covers and illustrations.

This is the design artwork of the first edition of Soseki's debut novel, I Am a Cat. Goyo made it at the young age of 24 in 1905. It radiates the sumptuous presence of the cat that transcends time and space, serene as an ancient pharaoh.

A cover depicting the scene where the cat is licking up beer

Goyo draws a mysterious atmosphere, transcending Japan's cozy yet somehow gloomy, pickle-scented atmosphere.

Within the seemingly endless “nonsense talk” unfolded by protagonists like recluses of a peaceful age, Soseki saw the “negative image” of the world, of society, of the era. The illustrations strike at the very essence of the narrative work. They do not merely provide a visual explanation of a single scene; rather, they visualise and “depict” that world from outside the story, or perhaps from the inside.

This is my favourite cover : the balance between the symmetry inspired by art nouveau and the Japanese letters create such a mystic atmosphere

A cover for "四篇"

The binding of 'Kusaai'

The cover of 虞美人草

The grave of Soseki is located in Zoshigaya, which is the set of his novel Kokoro. I often visited him when I lived in Tokyo, and I remember that there were a lot of cats in the neighborhood. 

I am an admirer of Soseki, but that does not mean I have the inclination to place a bust of him in my home and pay reverent homage to it day and night. Even so, I do possess a desire to decorate my room with the cover art, frontispiece, and illustrations from The Cat.

Once, in a house I visited in Tokyo, there was a room decorated solely with reprints of illustrations from Dickens' books, and it made my heart leap. Though my own home is small, I feel like filling at least one wall in some room with “The Cat”.

"The Combing Woman" by Goyo was purchased in Ginza by Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, who was captivated by the Shin-hanga prints. It is also known that he scanned and digitised it, projected it onto the icon of the Macintosh released in 1984, and used it in promotional photographs.