The Heart | 1973| original Japanese title Kokoro | こころ | Director Kaneto Shindo | stars Nobuko Otowa

Kokoro (こゝろ, or in post-war orthography こころ) is a novel by the Japanese author Natsume Sōseki. It was first published in 1914 in serial form in the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun. The title, translated literally means “heart“. The word contains shades of meaning, and can be translated as “the heart of things“ or “feeling“. During the novel’s initial serial run, from April 20 to August 11, 1914, it was printed under the title Kokoro: Sensei no Isho (心　先生の遺書, Kokoro: Sensei’s Testament). When later published in novel form by Iwanami Shoten, its title was shortened to Kokoro; the rendering of the word “kokoro“ itself was also changed from kanji (心) to hiragana (こころ). Storyline Kokoro is the story of a subtle and poignant friendship between two unnamed characters, a young man and an enigmatic elder scholar whom he calls Sensei. Haun