Soseki.

The author Natsume Soseki is someone whose name crops up every now and then, often in the most unexpected places.  Even at the height of my reading Japanese literature in translation, dating back over two decades ago, his work was always at the periphery of my interest.  The same holds true now, but what I do find fascinating is the back story of the man himself, from the lonely time he spent in England, his stature as the beginning of the Japanese modern tradition, and the image of him which is often shown (the pensive look).

While at the library the other day, during one of my breaks, I went into the literature section and looked through a book on Soseki, and was pleased to see some images from his life, including the much loved (by me) photographs of the writer in his studio, the specially designed printing board for his writing, and an image of the author laid to rest.  For it is death which is the ultimate reminder of what life is, or can be.

the custom designed stationery board

an example of Soseki's writing on the stationery

gone, not forgotten.

I also include the following image of a figure that I bought of Soseki, which was from a collection of historical figures that included Beethoven, Michelangelo, Christopher Columbus and some others.  Those were not of interest, having seen them on-line.  In the photo are several fellows accumulated over time, such as the green glass octopus (from London), the re-edition of Membros (a birthday gift from Matt), a Lisa Larsen lion keychain (Japan) and a reclining frog given to me by a wonderful bank teller in New York when I asked her where she got it (Puerto Rico).

fun and serious things