‘This was probably the first time I had a good look at a so-called “human being”. What impressed me as being most strange still remains deeply imbedded in my mind: the face which should have been covered with hair was a slippery thing similar to what I now know to be a teakettle.’

natsume sōseki’s novel i am a cat (1905/1906)  is much more than a satirical, insightful commentary on the meiji period and earmark on japan’s direction towards modernity at this time. it is an effective and literate practice of the visual potency one can indulge in, cat or human or otherwise.  rooted in the social mores of a transitioning japanese culture (edwardian and western, to say the least), the cat’s keen observations present what is essential in the way of seeing.  yes, the archetypical characters are colorful and provide the charm and attributes that make the novel incredibly entertaining, but we can also take from the cat’s methodological routine(s) and the cat’s (nearly condescending) views as a measured way of looking at the world, it’s happenings, and the people around us.  the cat’s point of view,the cat’s visual pace, syntax, and affect in what it sees form a curious and examining take; what the cat sees and how it sees is as important as why and where the cat is seeing.

before picking up a camera, a sketchbook, a paintbrush, or a pencil, pick up natsume sōseki’s i am a cat.  and then you can look at the world and begin to infer, and to react by what you see.