Born to a large family in modern-day Tokyo, Soseki was fostered for the first nine years of his life, before returning to his birth family. At college he studied first Chinese and then English, and after graduating became a teacher in a country school. He spent two unhappy years in the UK studying English and then returned to teach at Tokyo University.

In 1907 he turned to journalism, working on the Asahi Shimbun newspaper. He published many important books, including Botchan (1906), Wagahai wa Neko de Aru (1906), Sanshiro (1908), Sorekara (1909), Mon (1910) and Kokoro (1914). In addition to prose, he was famous as an essayist and poet. He was a considerable influence on later writers, especially Akutagawa Ryunosuke.

His portrait appears on the Japanese ¥ 1,000 note.

References

Microsoft Encarta 98 Encyclopedia, 1993-97
Gessel, Van C. Three Modern Novelists: Soseki, Tanizaki, Kawabata. (Tokyo: Kodansha International, 1993) (Kodansha Biographies)
"Natsume Soseki: 'Kokoro Picture Gallery.'" [Includes portraits]. Available at: http://www.at-m.or.jp/~ishii/doc/soseki/soseki.htm
Soseki Museum in London. "Soseki Museum Homepage." [Includes portraits]. Available at: http://www.dircon.co.uk/soseki-museum/info.html

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