Soseki Natsume's Botchan: The Manga Edition

“Kaori Okura’s rendition of Botchan is a restrained and faithful adaptation of the novel—which makes this work an excellent choice for embedding the work in a classroom context.” —International Journal of Comic Art“The artwork is perfect and conveys the story well. This is neither overly simplistic nor too deep; there is a nice mix of observations and silliness, pity observations versus zany action. But more importantly, it really is a beloved and important work in Japanese culture and tells a lot about the situation in Japan in 1906 when Japan was modernizing and Westernizing while still trying to hold on to its own important roots.” —The Online Eccentric Librarian“Botchan is required reading at school in Japan and you can imagine students identifying with the central character’s contempt for the fools around him in much the same way those in the West identify with the characters in The Catcher in the Rye and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn — both of which Botchan has been compared to.” —The Japan Times

Soseki Natsume was born in Tokyo and taught English in a small town before studying for three years in England. Returning to teach at prestigious Tokyo University, he began his writing career and soon achieved widespread acclaim. His novels include I Am a Cat, Kokoro and Kusamakura.

Kaori Okura is a manga artist in Japan. She is the creator of many comics for young adult and female readers.

Translation by Makiko Itoh, author of the Just Bento cookbook series and has translated many Japanese works into English including Zen Wisdom for the Anxious and Modern Japanese Ikebana. She writes regular columns on food for The Japan Times.