LONDON -- A museum featuring literary giant Soseki Natsume (1867-1916) will open in a private home in the suburbs of London next spring, allowing visitors to follow his footsteps while he studied in London and learn about the effects of studying abroad on his literary career.
Sammy I. Tsunematsu, 66, the director of the Soseki Museum in London that closed two years ago, will closely examine the 5,000 items he has on hand related to Soseki, such as memos handwritten by Soseki, and will display them for experts and fans again.
Soseki was dispatched to London by the Meiji government from 1900 until 1902 and studied English literature. During his stay in London, Soseki suffered from a nervous breakdown. However, starting from his novel "Rondon to" (The Tower of London), which is set in London, many of his masterpieces are said to have been influenced by things he had seen or heard in London, such as from written materials and images, as well as experiences he had in the city.
The new museum will exhibit Soseki's memos, favorite books, programs for plays he attended, pictures and written will of his personal teacher William James Craig, among other things. In addition, it will display professional materials that have thus far not been displayed to the public.
The closed Soseki Museum in London opened in 1984 in front of Soseki's fifth boarding house in southern London and had been in operation for 32 years. It was visited by many people besides tourists, including the crown prince who studied at the University of Oxford, authors Ryotaro Shiba and Shusaku Endo.
The museum was closed in the autumn of 2016 due to issues such as a shortage of operating funds, but it received more than 100 emails and calls from people who hoped the museum would resume operations. For that reason, Tsunematsu has renovated his home to show these valuable materials to the public.
Tsunematsu moved to Britain in 1974 and has empirically studied the theme of "The London where Soseki walked and lived." For example, he learned the situations of Soseki's boarding houses by finding materials related to the national census around that time at an archive in Britain and through other means.
Concerning the opening of the new museum, he said, "I'd like to show exhibitions to make visitors understand the footsteps Soseki took while studying in London because the experience not only made Soseki a scholar of English literature, but also changed him into a top-level author."
Reservations are required to visit the museum. For more information, email nsoseki@hotmail.com.
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