# Is "Kokoro" by Natsume Sōseki a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Kokoro by Natsume Sōseki (Iwanami Shoten, Tokyo, 1914) is identified by: Published 20 September 1914 (Taishō 3) by Iwanami Shoten, Tokyo, following serialization in the Asahi Shimbun from 20 April to 11 August 1914 under the serial title Kokoro: Sensei no isho. Japanese true first (Iwanami Shoten, Tokyo, 1914).

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Published 20 September 1914 (Taishō 3) by Iwanami Shoten, Tokyo, following serialization in the Asahi Shimbun from 20 April to 11 August 1914 under the serial title Kokoro: Sensei no isho
- The defining point is that Sōseki designed the entire book himself, a break from his earlier practice of commissioning professional designers: by his own account he devised and drew the box, cover, endpapers, title page and colophon, including the patterns, calligraphy, seal impressions and the kenin (inspection) stamps
- The spine reads こゝろ while the box carries 心; the title page reproduces a facsimile of the 心 entry from the Kangxi Dictionary; the endpaper bears Sōseki's red seal, and the colophon leaf carries the motto Ars longa, vita brevis
- The book was effectively author-financed — Sōseki paid production costs and the young bookseller Iwanami Shigeo sold it — which is why it stands as Iwanami Shoten's first literary publication
- A complete copy retains the publisher's box
- Publisher imprint reads Iwanami Shoten, Tokyo
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Natsume Sōseki |
| Publisher | Iwanami Shoten, Tokyo |
| Year | 1914 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Published 20 September 1914 (Taishō 3) by Iwanami Shoten, Tokyo, following serialization in the Asahi Shimbun from 20 April to 11 August… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Published 20 September 1914 (Taishō 3) by Iwanami Shoten, Tokyo, following serialization in the Asahi Shimbun from 20 April to 11 August 1914 under the serial title Kokoro: Sensei no isho. The defining point is that Sōseki designed the entire book himself, a break from his earlier practice of commissioning professional designers: by his own account he devised and drew the box, cover, endpapers, title page and colophon, including the patterns, calligraphy, seal impressions and the kenin (inspection) stamps. The spine reads こゝろ while the box carries 心; the title page reproduces a facsimile of the 心 entry from the Kangxi Dictionary; the endpaper bears Sōseki's red seal, and the colophon leaf carries the motto Ars longa, vita brevis. The book was effectively author-financed — Sōseki paid production costs and the young bookseller Iwanami Shigeo sold it — which is why it stands as Iwanami Shoten's first literary publication. A complete copy retains the publisher's box.

## Is this the true first?
Japanese true first (Iwanami Shoten, Tokyo, 1914). The census claim that the first complete English is Regnery, Chicago 1957 is NOT confirmed and is likely wrong: an English Kokoro translated by Ineko Sato (later Kondo) appeared in Tokyo in 1941 and was reviewed in Studies in English Literature in April 1942. Sources conflict on its publisher — the contemporaneous 1942 review gives Hokuseido, Tokyo, while Wikipedia gives Kenkyusha — and no source consulted establishes whether it is complete or abridged; a Castalia Library survey of the translations states outright that the 1941 text is effectively unseen. Edwin McClellan's translation (Henry Regnery Company, Chicago, 1957) is the first Western-published English edition and the one collected in the West: vi + 248 pp., blue cloth with a red title band and gilt spine lettering, in a white jacket with pale blue and black titles designed by Renee Walkoe; look for an unclipped jacket with the price present at the flap. UK precedence against the 1957 Regnery was not established.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Iwanami itself issues a facsimile reprint of the 1914 first in its 岩波文芸書初版本復刻シリーズ (first-edition facsimile reprint series), reissued for the 2014 centenary. These reproduce the box, cover, Kangxi 心 device and Sōseki's seals faithfully and are routinely mistaken for the 1914 original — check the colophon for the 復刻 (fukkoku) reprint statement and its reprint date. Later bunko and paperback issues of the Japanese text, and later Regnery and paperback reissues of the McClellan translation, are reprints.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Kokoro* by Natsume Sōseki a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/kokoro
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.