Natsume Soseki , who was the face of the 1000-yen bill for 20 years Mr. Miss.
Mr. Soseki, who grew up well and was very talented, is on the elite highway. He also experiences studying abroad in London. This is the reason why this study abroad program was chosen as the portrait of the 1000-yen bill.
However, suffering from repeated nerve weakness and illness, he turned to a novelist.
The size of Natsume Soseki's 1000-yen bill has been reduced!
November 1, 1984 Issuance has started.
From around this time, new banknotes will be issued every 20 years.
The 5000-yen and 10,000-yen bills were changed to new bills on the same day, but Mr. Soseki, Nitobe Inazo , Yukichi Fukuzawa All of them have overseas experience and are adopted by cultural figures such as writers and scholars who are widely known to foreigners It became a tendency to be done.
Ito Hirobumi of the previous 1000 yen bill The width is 14mm more compact than Mr.'s bill.
Previous bills were close to the size of today's 10,000-yen bills. (Ito banknote 164 mm, Natsume banknote 150 mm, 10,000 yen banknote 160 mm)
Compared to the actual situation, it is considerably smaller.
What kind of person is Natsume Soseki?
Mr. Soseki was born during the turmoil of the end of the Edo period and the Meiji era!
1867 , Born as the youngest child of the Natsume family, who ruled the area under Ushigome Babashita (currently Shinjuku Ward) in Edo. His real name is "Kinnosuke-san" ..
The Natsume family had considerable power and a rich life, but it is said that Soseki was an undesired child because his mother had a lot of children and had an advanced maternal age.
Happiness is not money or power.
1867 is in the middle of the Edo period Then, the following year, the Edo Shogunate was destroyed and changed to the Meiji era.
Perhaps because of this turmoil, he was sent to foster care soon after birth, or 1 year old . It has been turbulent since I was a baby, when I was adopted.
After that, Soseki-kun was 9 years old due to his adoptive father's female problem. I will return to my birthplace. Returning to the Natsume family is 21 years old ..
I have repeatedly transferred and dropped out of elementary school and junior high school, but it is not because I was not doing well, but because I wanted to study Chinese studies and literature, and the English classes that were essential for the examination were not held. That was the reason.
Since then, he has worked hard in his studies and has been the chief of most subjects, especially English.
His older brother was about to fulfill his wish for the revival of the Natsume family to Mr. Soseki, who was well-made.
A close friend relationship with the poet Masaoka Shiki!
Shiki Masaoka Mr. is one of the great men who had a great influence on modern Japanese literature such as haiku, tanka, and novels, and this name, which seems to be difficult and comes in quickly, has made him even more famous.
1867 , Born in the Matsuyama domain of Iyo province (currently Ehime prefecture).
When he was a child, he was a weak, introverted and bullied child.
Since she was a boy, she loved Chinese poetry and novels, was a literary figure, and was also interested in politics.
Around 16 years old , Moved to Tokyo.
The following year, when he entered the Tokyo Preparatory Gate (currently the Faculty of Arts and Sciences of the University of Tokyo), he met Natsume Soseki . You will deepen your friendship.
August 21 years old , And May 22 years old A large amount of hemoptysis "Pulmonary tuberculosis" from your doctor Will be diagnosed.
At that time, tuberculosis was considered an incurable disease, so Shiki began to live a life conscious of her death.
It is "Shiki" It also appears in the name, "Shiki" is "Lesser cuckoo" Under the nickname of, the lesser cuckoo, who keeps crying until he spits blood, and himself who has hemoptysis overlapped.
By the way, his best friend Soseki's "Soseki" The name was inherited from many of Shiki's pen names.
"Stubborn, weirdo" In that sense, it suits Mr. Soseki's personality.
Shiki dropped out of college because he failed the year-end exam and was 25 years old . So he joined the Japanese newspaper.
At this time, "I will drop out because I failed" When I sent a letter to Mr. Soseki, Mr. Soseki "If it screams, it's a full moon, he's a lesser cuckoo" Is being sent back.
2 years later , "Sino-Japanese War" Although he went to China as a reporter when the outbreak broke out, the war ended two days after landing, and hemoptysis was on board the return ship. He fell into a serious condition and was hospitalized as it was.
After his recuperation, he will continue to study haiku and innovate tanka, making a significant contribution to these worlds.
On the other hand, however, his condition worsens, making it difficult for M. tuberculosis to affect the spinal cord and make him bedridden.
Nevertheless, he continued to write haiku, tanka, essays, and even taught his younger generation.
In the letter to Mr. Soseki, who was studying in England at that time,
"I'm no longer good ... I don't think I can meet you again ..."
And so on, I am sending a letter like a bittersweet because of my best friend.
And 34 years old Died at a young age.
Half a lifetime suffering from illness! And the road to a writer!
Study abroad in the UK and forced return!
Around 23 , Entered the English Department of Imperial University.
At the same time, the bereavement of his two brothers and the death of his third brother's wife also led to pessimism and nervousness. He was in love with his three brothers' wives, and her loss was deeply traumatized in her heart.
Around 25 I am also a lecturer at Tokyo Senmon Gakko (later Waseda University).
With Shiki Masaoka, I take a walk around Waseda, travel to the Kansai area together, and visit Shiki Matsuyama's parents' house.
Around 26 years old Although she graduated from Imperial University and became an English teacher, she took a rest in her hometown while teaching English at a junior high school in Matsuyama to escape from Tokyo due to signs of pulmonary tuberculosis and extreme nervous weakness.
Around 29 years old , Moved to Kumamoto High School as an English teacher, where he married to the eldest daughter of the Chief Secretary of the House of Lords. However, her wife, who was raised by her lady, became hysterical in an unfamiliar environment, and she is said to have not been a smooth sailing couple. Her wife also tried to jump into the river.
Around 33 Study in England for studying English teaching methods Is ordered by the Ministry of Education.
However, his life in London was the worst, and a report to the Ministry of Education stated that
"Prices are high and life is difficult. University lectures are not worth listening to even if you pay the tuition fee."
I even say.
In addition, the conversation in English did not go well and he gradually became lonely, and when he began to devote himself to research in the boarding house, he fell into a memory weakness that the owner of the boarding house was worried about.
The Ministry of Education "Natsume Madness" Rumors have flowed, and an order to return to Japan was issued in a hurry.
Later, Mr. Soseki,
"The most unpleasant two years" I have left it.
Going to the writer's path with "I am a cat"!
Upon returning from studying in England, he will be a lecturer at Daiichi High School and Tokyo Imperial University.
However, Mr. Soseki's predecessor's retention movement at Imperial University Occurred among students, and Mr. Soseki's lecture was stiff and unpopular.
Moreover, in high school, a few days after rebuking a student, the student watered suicide . I have done it.
The deaths of elite students had a major impact on society, with a succession of followers, and as many as 180 people committed suicide in the same place.
There are various causes of suicide, such as the "broken heart theory," but these things combined, and Mr. Soseki began to suffer from memory weakness again.
Kyoshi Takahama to relieve illness "I am a cat" Written and announced, it quickly became popular with the public.
Kyoshi Takahama is the hometown of Shiki Masaoka, who is studying haiku and is expected to be her successor. She has been given the name "Kyoshi" by Shiki-san. By the way, she is a man.
"I am a cat" is a haiku magazine "Hototogisu" launched by Shiki and others. The serialization started at " Rinatsuto " "Botsu-chan" She announced her work and became a popular writer.
However, she still suffered from illness, and at Shuzenji in Izu, where she visited for medical treatment, she suffered from stomach ulcer and hematemesis . And fall into a critical condition that wanders the border between her life and death.
Her experience at this time makes her subsequent works more reminiscent of "death."
And her illness wasn't completely cured she was 49 years old She is and she dies.
It seems that Mr. Soseki's brain is still stored in the University of Tokyo School of Medicine.
A brief introduction to some of Natsume Soseki's works!
I am a cat
It was Natsume Soseki's virgin novel, and its popularity determined the path to becoming a novelist.
From the perspective of a cat kept by an English teacher, this work depicts the human pattern of the people gathering around him.
This English teacher is modeled on Mr. Soseki himself.
Rinatsutou
Soseki's work was based on the Tower of London he saw during his two years studying abroad in London.
The Tower of London is a citadel built in the 1000s to protect it from foreign enemies.
Later, it was also used as a prison to imprison and execute high-ranking people, and Mr. Soseki fantastically depicts the people who died in this place.
Botsu-chan
Only her younger daughter, Kiyoshi, loved her personality and loved her "boy" who grew up away from her family.
After graduating from a school in Tokyo, she was assigned to work as a math teacher at a junior high school in Shikoku. She is a work that depicts her human pattern there.
When she came to Shikoku and learned about her human dirty side, when she learned how good Kiyoshi was, she resigned from her teacher and returned home, and she said she would live with Kiyoshi again. become.
By the way, Soseki's wife's real name is also "Kiyo".
Then
The main character is a man who is about to turn 30. With the help of his father, who made a fortune in his business, he lived a comfortable life without getting his job.
In contrast to the protagonist, his best friend got a job at a bank and was promising.
Meanwhile, two common alumni died, leaving their sister behind.
The protagonist, who loved his sister deeply, entrusted the woman he loved to his best friend at the bank instead of his unrelenting self.
Finally, the protagonist chooses a loved one who abandons her blessed life.
Kokoro
One of Soseki's masterpieces, "The best-selling book in Japan" But it seems. (As of 2016)
It consists of three parts, "upper, middle, and lower".
In "above", the narrator "I" meets "teacher", and every month "teacher" visits her friend's grave, a mysterious behavior.
"I" goes home because of her father's illness, and "teacher" advises her father to clean up her property while he is fine. Furthermore, the words do not stop about the bad parts of human beings, and the "teacher" confesses that he was deceived by people in the past.
In "Middle", Emperor Meiji died, and a thick letter from "Teacher" arrived to follow it, and "I" realized that it was a suicide note.
In "below", from the contents of the letter, the "teacher" tells the fact that in the past she betrayed her friend and forced her to commit suicide.