I Am a Cat

Volume One

By: Natsume Soseki

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Paperback | 2 September 2025

At a Glance

Paperback
240 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
21.5 x 13.5 x 2.1

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The original Japanese Cat-Lit Classic. Now published in a new translation by Nick Bradley, author of The Cat and the City

Discover the original Japanese Cat classic, now in a vibrant new translation by Nick Bradley, author of The Cat and the City.

'I am a Cat. But I still don't have a name...'

Once a stray kitten, I Am a Cat's narrator finds himself adopted by a local scholar and thrown headfirst into the absurd upper middle-class world of Meiji-era Japan. Now a noble but somewhat world-weary observer, he has ample opportunity to dissect the strange ways and convoluted conversations of the human race.

First published at the turn of the 20^th century, and regarded as one of Japan's most iconic classics, I Am a Cat is a captivating exploration of identity, society, and the often bewildering nature of the human condition-all seen through the eyes of a very special, uncompromising cat.

'A biting satire of Meiji-era Japan' Jessie Burton, Guardian

'Soseki is the representative modern Japanese novelist, a figure of truly national stature' Haruki Murakami

About the Author

Nick Bradley is the author of The Cat and The City (2020) and Four Seasons in Japan (2023). In 2024 he was chosen by The British Council and The National Centre for Writing as one of ten rising stars in UK writing. His work has so far been translated into twenty languages. He lived in Japan for many years where he worked as a translator, and currently teaches on the Creative Writing master’s programme at the University of Cambridge and also taught on the Creative Writing Prose Fiction MA at UEA.

Industry Reviews

A nonchalant string of anecdotes and wisecracks, told by a fellow who doesn't have a name, and has never caught a mouse, and isn't much good for anything except watching human beings in action — New Yorker

A biting satire of Meiji-era Japan told through the eyes of a sardonic street kitten — Jessie Burton, Guardian

A mordantly comic evocation of Soseki’s deep pessimism about his own humanity and indeed about humankind in general — Lit Hub

Soseki is the representative modern Japanese novelist, a figure of truly national stature — Haruki Murakami

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