Before
the interview with Natsume, I took the time to visit Matsuyama city. This city
is the setting for Natsume's novel 'Botchan'. He was once assigned as a teacher
in Matsuyama, and it must have been that experience that inspired him to write the
novel that tells the story of a middle school mathematics teacher assigned to
teach in Matsuyama. The teacher's name is Botchan, which means ‘Young Master’,
in Japanese. Botchan has an unusual character for a teacher, as he has a
sarcastic mouth. His words are sharp without being polished, and without
hesitation he talked that way to his students and other fellow teachers. He
cursed at his students who were often behaving impishly and mischievously
towards him. He also spoke aggressively and sharply to other teachers he didn't
like. He gave nicknames to teachers who behaved strangely. The fresh and comic
narrative makes this novel very popular in Japan and has become a mandatory
reading in schools. Maybe, every student in Japan has read this novel.
The city Matsuyama is actually not as outdated as Botchan said. Of course, this city cannot be compared with Tokyo, the big city where Botchan lived before moving to Matsuyama. Here, I also looked for and found the hot springs that Botchan often visited, where he escaped every afternoon after teaching at school. The name of this hot spring bathing place is Dogo Onsen, a fairly large and famous public bath. The building has three floors, made of wood, arranged beautifully and magnificently. The hot water in the bathing pool comes from the earth and contains many minerals. It's really relaxing to soak in this hot water pool, soothes sore muscles and joints. I can imagine how Botchan enjoyed the warm water and felt refreshed after soaking for just a few moments.
So, when I met Natsume at his house in Waseda-Minamicho, Tokyo, I started the conversation with this Dogo Onsen.
Natsume:
“Yes, according to Botchan, the building has three stories, the bathing pool is made of granite, about 10 square meters in size. There are usually thirteen or fourteen people in the pool, but sometimes there aren't any. If there is no one, Bochan takes the opportunity to swim in this pool, even though the small pool is not a swimming pool and there is a sign that says: "Swimming in the pool is prohibited." The sign seemed to have been written specifically for Botchan, who often sneakingly swam in the pool when it was quiet. According to public practice, the pool is for soaking and enjoying the warm water, the pool is too small for swimming."
I said:
“It seems that one of his students found out that Botchan often swims in the pool and reported it. So, the next day Botchan was surprised when he entered the school room, on the blackboard it was written: "Swimming in the pool is prohibited." Ha... ha... ha.... I remember the old school days, the students were sometimes so mischievous..."
Natsume,
also laughed:
"Yes, the students are behaving impishly because Botchan is a young teacher who is new to teaching at the school. Imagine, when Botchan goes to the bath, he always brings the same large towel, European size. This towel is slightly red like the color of the hot water which contains minerals in the Dogo onsen. He always held this towel in his hand when he went to the bathhouse, both when walking and when taking the train there. Therefore, the students nicknamed him “Red Towel”. Ha... ha... Looks like all the students are conspiring to follow him everywhere to observe what this young teacher is doing... Ha..ha..”.
I laughed too:
"But Botchan is no less mischievous, he confronts his students with sarcastic curses and handles his annoying students fiercely. He gave appropriate punishment to his students. Many teachers decried Botchan's actions on the students, these actions were considered unfit for a teacher. Botchan didn't want to be outdone and denied them with increasingly sarcastic expressions. He was even ready to fight with the teachers who criticized him. He mocked the teachers with nicknames according to the teacher's strange behavior..."
Natsume:
“Yes, especially the “Red Shirt”, the hypocritical and manipulative head teacher, who is Botchan’s biggest enemy. He was given that nickname because every day he wore red furry clothes, and talked like a woman,... ha... ha..."
Yes,
the "Red Shirt" is a very annoying character. I wondered if there was
actually one of Natsume's fellow teachers at that school who behaved like Red
Shirt, which inspired Natsume to depict this character. Just like the city of
Matsuyama which became the setting of this novel, and the bathing place which
depiction was based on Dogo onsen, perhaps the characters in this story also were
depicted based on people whom Natsume encountered while teaching at that
school.
Matsuyama City, apart from being the setting for "Botchan", is also the city where Natsume reunites with Shiki Masaoka, his best friend since school. Shiki Masaoka wrote a lot of Haiku since that time in school, and Natsuke was influenced to write Haiku by him. Haiku is a short poem consisting of 3 lines and 17 syllables, which is popular in Japan. This short haiku conveys the impression experienced by the author in an instant, which was spontaneously felt in an encounter. Haiku can be about simple things that are encountered every day, things that are light and funny, but they can also have deep, existential expressions, about love and death. Since thereon, Natsume, together with Shiki, also wrote a lot of Haiku, both about trivial, funny and deep encounters.
I
said:
“It is said that in Matsuyama you met your close friend Shiki Masaoka, and together you spent time writing Haiku there. How did you become friends with Shiki Masaoka, who could be said to be one of the Haiku Masters in Japan?”
Natsume:
“ Shiki Masaoka was my best friend since school, and he wrote a lot of Haiku at that time. He has collected his poems in one book which he entitled "Nanakusashu", which also contains poems in Chinese writing styles and Haiku. One day he passed the book around in class for his friends to comment on. I added my comments at the end of the book and attached nine poems that I addressed to him. “
I
said: "What kind of poetry did you write...?"
Natsume,
citing one of the poems in that book:
“Living in nothingness is rather tasteful,
This
summer you decided to rent a room at the House of the Fragrant Moon on the bank
of the river.
Whilst
spending time composing poems featuring a rural landscape of green wheat and
yellow rape blossoms,
The
season has changed and autumn with the red flower of water pepper and white
flower of floating weed has arrived again.”
I
said: “How did Shiki respond...?”
Natsume:
“He liked that poem..., it reminded him of his experience on summer vacation in
Mukojima. He rented a room to write the poetry collection
"Nanakusashu", and according to him this location was a meaningless
world, which was the place where he got inspiration for his writings.
But later on, I thought the poems were childish... I felt really embarrassed and asked him to tear up the poems..."
I
said: “I don't feel so...”
Natsume:
"Nevertheless, since then we have become close friends, my pen name
"Soseki" is actually one of Shiki's pen names, which he later gave to
me. And until now my name is Natsume Soseki..."
I
said: “Does Soseki mean anything...?”
Natsume:
"Soseki comes from an expression from "Shinjo" in the Tang
dynasty in China, which means 'to gargle with stones'...".
I frowned: “Gargling with stones? How strange?"
Natsume:
"Yes, that's an analogy for someone who loses but doesn't want to admit
defeat, Bad Looser... ha...ha.."
I
laughed too: "Hmm... that's the pen name Shiki gave you, huh... So, that name makes fun of both of you,
huh..."
Natsume:
“We became close friends and often shared Haiku and Chinese poetry writings in our letters. Shiki was impressed by the Chinese poetry I wrote, and I was impressed by the Haiku-Haiku he wrote, so we exchanged poems to express our thoughts and feelings. While in Matsuyama, we wrote more and more Haiku together. At that time, he actually came to this city to recover from the tuberculosis he was suffering from, because this city was actually his hometown. There we devoted our free time to Haiku, and also wrote poems at meetings with poets and our students.”
I said: "Hmm... you guys were very productive in writing poetry..."
Natsume:
"Yes, Shiki was very talented, but he admitted later that as a student, he
was not very diligent..."
I
said: "Yes, many prominent people don't study hard, their report cards at
school weren't impressive and many of them even fail at school..."
Natsume:
"Yes, Shiki experienced many obstacles when studying at school, in the later days he even intended to resign from Tokyo Imperial University because he failed the final exam. I received a letter from him about his intentions, I became very worried and immediately wrote back trying to calm his mind so he wouldn't go the wrong way...at the end of the letter I added a Haiku to cool him down which read: 'Night cuckoo, if you cry, cry to the full moon...' ... for your information, his name Shiki means cuckoo..."
I
said: "Then, did you succeed in changing his mind…?"
Natsume: “Unfortunately…., a year later he actually withdrew from Tokyo Imperial University….”
In
the middle of our conversation, Kyoko, Natsume's wife, came in carrying a tray
of snacks which she placed on the table in front of us who were sitting
cross-legged. I saw food with attractive colors, those were mochi cakes, a
typical Japanese cake made from sticky rice. There are three kinds of colors of
the cakes, white, orange and brown. The orange one has a citrus taste, a refreshing
one. Natsume immediately took the chocolate mochi cake and ate it with a gusto.
It seemed he was quite hungry that time. Kyoko said that Natsume had a severe
stomach acid disorder, so he was often hungry like that. Kyoko spoke while
smiling broadly in a friendly manner, but her teeth looked irregular and
yellow. Natsume himself once said about his wife 'her teeth are irregular and
yellow, but she doesn't care to hide it. I appreciate her openness'. I remember
it was Natsume's words noted by Kyoko herself.
Natsume himself is tall, with a fairly bushy mustache, and his eyes are brownish gold. There is a smallpox scar on the right side of his face, which is covered with fine hair. In portraits this scar is never visible, perhaps because the photographer respected him not to show that side of his face.
I then tried the chocolate mochi, it turned out it tasted of red beans. Kyoko then served a pot of green tea which is commonly drunk in Japan. The slightly bitter taste of the tea goes well with the taste of this chocolate mochi. While enjoying the warm mochi and tea, I looked at the interior of this house. This house has walls and floors all made of wood, typical of traditional Japanese houses. The floor is covered with tatami, thick mats made of straw. The walls and ceilings are all wood. The room dividers are made of wooden frames and are covered on both sides with white washi, a type of paper that is tough and durable. The washi paper is translucent, making the room brighter, making anyone feel at home sitting here. Even though I sat cross-legged for a long time, I didn't feel tired.
Suddenly from behind the partition came a cat, which without further ado sat on Natsume's lap. The cat is a type of medium-sized calico cat, with fur like a Persian cat, yellowish gray with jet black spots. The cat sat cuddly, being stroked by Natsume's hand. Immediately I recognized this cat as the cat in the book "I am a Cat", written by Natsume. Yes, the narrator is this cat, who often chatters and makes comments about his master, Mr. Sneaze, who is an English teacher. Coincidentally or not, Natsume was also an English teacher. The cat also told us that his master had a serious stomach acid problem....
I
then said:
"This cat is very similar to the cat that plays a role in the book 'I am a Cat', I would guess that there are many stories that the Cat told us are based on your real experience..."
Natsume
just smiled….
I
said:
"That the stomach acid disorder that the Cat talked about his master, Mr. Sneaze, looks quite serious... I heard stories from people who suffered from the same suffering that Mr. Sneaze experienced..."
Natsume:
"His wife always told him to drink Taka-Diastase for his ailment, but Mr. Sneaze didn't want to drink it anymore, because it wasn't effective. His wife kept encouraging him to take the medicine, but Mr. Sneaze stubbornly refused, saying it was useless. She then became upset because he used to take the drug every day and said it works like a miracle. However, she kept saying to him that patience is needed to cure the disease, if one doesn’t have the patience it won't heal. Stomach acid disorder does take a long time to heal..., his wife said so while looking at her servant, as if asking for her approval... and the servant, of course she agreed with his wife's words...."
I
said:
“Readers of this book may recognize the story style of ‘Rakugo’, which is a Japanese monologue performance, told humorously. Like stand-up comedy in bars, the Cat speaks like that…”
Natsume:
"Indeed, my stomach acid problem became severe enough that I had to be hospitalized while writing 'The Gate'. Then I took refuge in Shuzenji for healing. I stayed at the Kikuya ryokan on the banks of the Katsuragawa River, nearby which also has an onsen, a hot spring bath. I felt like coming home after a long journey. But my condition worsened, and I vomited 800 grams of blood, I felt so close to death at that time.”
I said:
" I happened to have read ‘The Gate’, or 'Mon' as the original title, which you wrote at that critical time, I was very impressed with that novel. It's very interesting how you talk about the daily life of a person named 'Sosuke', which also happens to be similar to your pen name 'Soseki'. In the story, Sosuke refuged to a temple in Kamakura to seek peace in live by studying Zen and practicing the meditation. And I heard that you have also studied Zen and meditation at Enkaku-ji Temple in Kamakura."
Natsume:
"But it turned out that a life full of meditation at the temple was not suitable for Sosuke, he always woke up late for morning meditation, the long meditations were too tiring for him and the vegetarian food provided was tasteless. After ten days he returned home.”
I
said:
“The Gate referred to in this novel seems to be the Gate of this temple, the Gate to enlightenment that Sosuke wants to achieve...”
Nasume, citing ‘The Gate’:
“He had come here expecting the gate to be opened for him. But when he knocked, the gatekeeper, wherever he stood behind the high portals, had not so much as showed his face. Only a disembodied voice could be heard: ‘It does no good to knock. Open the gate for yourself and enter.’
But how, he wondered, could he unbar the gate from the outside? Mentally he devised a scheme involving various measures and steps. But when it came to it, he found himself unable to summon the strength to put his scheme into effect. He was standing in the very same place he had stood before even beginning to ponder the problem. As before, he found himself stranded, without resources or recourse, in front of the closed portals. He had been living from day to day in accordance with his own capacity for reason. Now to his chagrin he could see that this capacity had become a curse. At one extreme, he had come to envy the obstinate single-mindedness of simpletons for whom the possibility of discriminating among several options did not arise. At the other end of the spectrum, he viewed with awe the advanced spiritual self-discipline of those lay believers, both men and women, who abandoned conventional wisdom and did away with the distractions of analytical thought. It appeared to SÅsuke that from the moment of his birth it was his fate to remain standing indefinitely outside the gate. This was an indisputable fact. Yet if it were true that, no matter what, he was never meant to pass through this gate, there was something quite absurd about his having approached it in the first place. He looked back. He saw that he lacked the courage to retrace his steps. He looked ahead. The way was forever blocked by firmly closed portals. He was someone destined neither to pass through the gate nor to be satisfied with never having passed through it. He was one of those unfortunate souls fated to stand in the gate’s shadow, frozen in his tracks, until the day was done.
THE END
This is an imaginary interview in memory of Natsume Soseki.
Sources:
https://www.library.tohoku.ac.jp/en/collections/soseki/life.html
https://www.japanesewiki.com/person/Soseki%20NATSUME%20(novelist).html
https://old-tokyo.info/getting-closer-to-natsume-soseki-in-waseda-museum
https://www.outdoorjapan.com/regions-in-japan/chubu-region/shizuoka/shuzenji-sanctuary
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