A postcard telling of the death of a cat kept by novelist Natsume Soseki, which served as inspiration for a cat in his masterpiece "I Am a Cat," is being displayed for the first time to the public in an exhibition at Satsuma-Sendai, Kagoshima Prefecture.
"I Am a Cat" is one of the most famous novels by Natsume (1867-1916), a major figure in modern Japanese literature.
The novel humorously describes the behavior of neighbors of an English-language teacher through the eyes of a cat. The teacher and cat are said to be modeled on Natsume and his own cat.
"(The cat) had been sick and treatment didn't work. It passed away on the top of an oven in a junk room sometime last night before I knew it," Natsume wrote on the postcard.
"You do not need to attend the funeral because the owner (Natsume) is now busy working on (another novel) 'Sanshiro,' " he wrote.
The postcard was sent by Natsume from Tokyo to Toyoichiro Nogami, a disciple of Natsume's. Natsume was 41 at the time.
The postcard was formerly known as "Death Notice of the Cat." The text has been published in Natsume's collected works. This is first time the postcard itself has been put on public view.
"This is precious material that vividly shows Soseki's sense of humor," said an employee at Sendai Magokoro Bungaku-kan, the literature museum that is holding the exhibition until Nov. 23.