The Times Of Botchan Vol.1 - Softcover

This is the fictionalized version of the life and times of Japanese author [b]Natsume Soseki[/b] during an era of great change in Japan from the traditional Edo period into the modern Meiji period (1867-1912). [b]Soseki[/b] is considered the Charles Dickens or Mark Twain of Japan. His image even appeared on the 1000 yen note for two decades. He is best known for his novel [i]Botchan[/i], on whose times this book is based and the short [i]I Am A Cat[/i] which is integrated into these pages. In this [b]first volume[/b] we meet a circle of [b]Soseki[/b]'s friends and he receives the spark that will become [i]Botchan[/i]. [b]Taniguchi[/b] marries talent to a solid script by [b]Sekikawa[/b] to create a fresco of Japanese society towards the end of the Meiji period as Japan was beginning to open up to the West. What could have been simply an illustrated textbook becomes, in these capable hands, a narrative for adults of great artistic and historical significance.

Jiro Taniguchi was born 1947 in Tottori, Japan. He trained in the 60's and debuted in 1971 in 'Young Comic'. During the 70's he worked with author Natsuo Sekikawa before launching into their massive work 'The times of Botchan' in the 80's. The 90's saw many solo works including the prize winning 'A Distant Neighborhood'. The new millenium saw Taniguchi's epic adaptation of Baku Yumemakura's novel 'The Summit of the Gods' into a 1500 page manga. He continues to live and work in Japan.

[b]Natsuo Sekikawa[/b] was born in November, 1949. Mostly an historian and essayist he collaborated with [b]Jiro Taniguchi[/b] from 1976 - 79 writing hard boiled stories like [i]Lindo 3[/i]. They followed this up in the 1980's with the award winning series [i]Botchan No Jidai[/i]. [b]Jiro Taniguchi[/b] was born in Tottori, Japan in 1947.