Prior to the centennial anniversary in October of the passage to Britain by the famous Japanese novelist Natsume Soseki (1867-1916), literary devotees are hoping to install a plaque to honor their hero in a London suburb where he lived.
Scholars and laymen gathered for an event held last week at the Soseki Museum located near his former home in Clapham, south London. It was organized by the Japan Society, a private organization dedicated to promote understanding between Britain and Japan.
They gathered to mark Soseki's arrival in Britain on Oct. 28, 1900, when he was sent as Japan's first government-funded scholar to study the English language and literature.
The Japan Society's joint chairman, Sir John Whitehead, a former British ambassador to Japan and a self-professed Soseki fan, told the gathering that he was in the process of negotiating with the local government to install a blue plaque outside of the novelist's former dwelling.