An Annotated Translation of Part 1 of Kokoro: Sensei and I

Kokoro, by Natsume Sōseki, is a well-loved classic of Japanese literature. Edwin McClellan translated this novel into English in 1957. Though this translation is easy to read, it is not a perfect translation in the sense that it does not offer the reader many notes on the words, grammar, colloquial expressions, etc. that are not easily translated into English. Therefore, the goal of this paper is to present a fresh translation of the first part of the novel, Sensei and I, with annotations. This will hopefully broaden the reader’s understanding of the text.