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{{short description|Satirical 1905–1906 novel by Natsume Sōseki}}
{{about||the 2017 children's picture book by Galia Bernstein|I Am a Cat (Bernstein book)}}
{{refimprove|date=December 2009}}
{{Use DMY dates|date=November 2023}}
{{Infobox book 
| name          = I Am a Cat
| author        = [[Natsume Sōseki]]
| language      = Japanese
| country       = Japan
| genre         = [[Satire|Satirical novel]]
| publisher     = 
| isbn = 978-0-8048-3265-6
| <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Novels or Wikipedia:WikiProject_Books -->
| title_orig    = Wagahai wa Neko de Aru {{noitalic|({{lang|ja|吾輩は猫である}})}}
| translator    = Aiko Ito and [[Graeme Wilson (translator)|Graeme Wilson]]
| image         = I AM A CAT by K. Ando.jpg
| caption       = Cover of the 1906 English translation
| illustrator   = 
| cover_artist  = 
| release_date  = 1905–1906
| english_release_date = 1961 by [[Kenkyūsha|Kenkyusha]]
| media_type    = Print (hardback & paperback)
| congress      = PL812.A8 W313 2002
| oclc          = 49703480
| preceded_by   = 
| followed_by   = 
}}
{{nihongo|'''''I Am a Cat'''''|吾輩は猫である|Wagahai wa Neko de Aru|lead=yes}} is a satirical novel written in 1905–1906 by [[Natsume Sōseki]] about Japanese society during the [[Meiji period]] (1868–1912), particularly the uneasy mix of [[Western culture]] and Japanese traditions.

Sōseki's title, ''Wagahai wa Neko de Aru'', uses a very [[Register (sociolinguistics)|high-register]] phrasing more appropriate to a nobleman, conveying grandiloquence and self-importance. This is somewhat ironic, since the speaker, an [[Anthropomorphosis|anthropomorphized]] domestic [[cat]], is a regular house cat of a teacher, and not of a high-ranking noble as the manner of speech suggests, an example of Sōseki's love for [[droll]] writing.

The book was first published in ten installments in the [[Literary magazine|literary journal]] ''[[Hototogisu (magazine)|Hototogisu]]''. At first, Sōseki intended only to write the short story that constitutes the first chapter of ''I Am a Cat''. However, [[Takahama Kyoshi]], one of the editors of ''Hototogisu'', persuaded Sōseki to serialize the work, which evolved stylistically as the installments progressed. Nearly all the chapters can stand alone as discrete works.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nathan |first=Richard |date=10 September 2021 |title=Soseki's Cat: A Quantum Leap for Japanese Literature |url= https://www.redcircleauthors.com/news-and-views/sosekis-cat-a-quantum-leap-for-japanese-literature/ |website=Red Circle}}</ref>

==Plot summary==
In ''I Am a Cat'', a supercilious, feline narrator describes the lives of an assortment of middle-class [[Japanese people]]: Mr. {{sic|Sneaze|hide=y}}<ref>This is the spelling used in the abridged translation by Aiko Itō and [[Graeme Wilson (translator)|Graeme Wilson]].</ref> ("sneeze" is misspelled on purpose, but literally translated from {{nihongo||珍野苦沙彌|Chinno Kushami}}, in the original Japanese) and family (the cat's owners), Sneaze's garrulous and irritating friend {{nihongo|Waverhouse|迷亭|Meitei}}, and the young scholar {{nihongo|Avalon Coldmoon|水島寒月|Mizushima Kangetsu}} with his will-he-won't-he courtship of the businessman's spoiled daughter, {{nihongo|Opula Goldfield|金田富子|Kaneda Tomiko}}.

==Cultural impact==
''I Am a Cat'' is a frequent assignment to Japanese schoolchildren, such that the plot and style remain well-known long after publication. One effect was that the narrator's manner of speech, which was archaic even at the time of writing, became largely associated with the cat and the book. The narrator's preferred [[Japanese pronouns#Archaic personal pronouns|personal pronoun]], {{lang|ja-Latn|wagahai}}, is rarely-to-never used in real life in Japan, but survives in fiction thanks to the book, generally for arrogant and pompous anthropomorphized animals. For example, [[Bowser]], the turtle-king enemy in many [[Mario (franchise)|''Mario'']] video games, uses {{lang|ja-Latn|wagahai}}, as does [[Characters of Persona 5#Morgana|Morgana]], a cat character in ''[[Persona 5]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://legendsoflocalization.com/personal-pronouns-in-japanese/ |title=Tricky Translations #4: 'I' & 'Me' in Japanese |last=Mandelin |first=Clyde |author-link=Clyde Mandelin |date=June 1, 2019 |website=Legends of Localization |access-date=22 March 2020 |archive-date=2 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190602015927/https://legendsoflocalization.com/personal-pronouns-in-japanese/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Furthermore, the 2023 anime ''[[The Masterful Cat Is Depressed Again Today]]'' uses the complete title, directly captioned on screen, bordered in paw prints, as its opening line, spoken by the titular character. [[Uchida Hyakken]] uses that title in his 1950 novel {{Nihongo||贋作吾輩は猫である|Gansaku wagahai wa neko de aru}} and [[Hikaru Okuizumi|Okuizumi Hikaru]] in his 1996 crime fiction {{Nihongo||『吾輩は猫である』殺人事件|Wagahai wa neko de aru satsujin jiken}}.

==Adaptations==
The novel was first adapted into a film released in 1936. The film's setting was moved to the end of WWI and the ending was changed to be less nihilistic. Later, prolific screenwriter Toshio Yasumi adapted the novel into a screenplay, and a second film was directed by [[Kon Ichikawa]]. It premiered in Japanese cinemas in 1975. An [[anime]] television special adaptation aired in 1982. It was also adapted into a manga by Chiroru Kobato in 2010 and translated into English by [[Zack Davisson]].

==Footnotes==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commonscat}}

* {{in lang|ja}} [http://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/000148/files/790.html Full text] ([[Kyūjitai]] and [[Historical kana orthography]]) at [[Aozora Bunko]]
* {{in lang|ja}} [http://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/000148/files/789_14547.html Full text] ([[Shinjitai]] and [[Modern kana usage]]) at [[Aozora Bunko]]
* (in English, translated by Kan-ichi Ando, 1906) (pdf) [https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/zeabook/112/ I Am a Cat, Chapter I & Chapter II (English, 1906)]
* {{librivox book|title=I Am a Cat|author=Soseki}} (excerpt)
* [http://www.sosekiproject.org Soseki Project] (resources for reading Sōseki's works in their original Japanese form)

; Adaptations

* {{IMDb title|qid=Q123678828|title=Wagahai wa neko de aru|description=(1936)}}
* {{IMDb title|qid=Q17216291|title=I Am a Cat|description=(1975)}}
* {{IMDb title|qid=Q123678818|title=Wagahai wa neko de aru|description=(1982)}}
* {{jmdb title|1936|bl001440|Wagahai wa Neko de Aru (1936}}
* {{jmdb title|1975|cy001510|Wagahai wa Neko de Aru (1975)}}
* [http://www.allcinema.net/prog/show_c.php?num_c=235593 ''Wagahai wa Neko de Aru'' (1982)] at allcinema {{in lang|ja}}

{{Natsume Sōseki}}
{{authority control}}
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[[Category:1906 Japanese novels]]
[[Category:20th-century Japanese novels]]
[[Category:1900s in comedy]]
[[Category:Japanese comedy novels]]
[[Category:Japanese satirical novels]]
[[Category:Novels with unreliable narrators]]
[[Category:Novels set in Japan]]
[[Category:Novels set in the Meiji era]]
[[Category:Novels about cats]]
[[Category:Novels about talking animals]]
[[Category:Japanese novels adapted into films]]
[[Category:Comedy novels adapted into films]]
[[Category:Japanese novels adapted into television shows]]
[[Category:Novels adapted into comics]]
[[Category:Novels by Natsume Sōseki]]
[[Category:Xenofiction novels]]
[[Category:Tuttle Publishing books]]