I Am a Cat

Volume One

By: Natsume Soseki, Nick Bradley - translator

Brought to you by Penguin.

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 20th 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

© Natsume Soseki 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026

Critic 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

A biting satire of Meiji-era Japan told through the eyes of a sardonic street kitten (Jessie Burton)

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

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