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Natsume Soseki, Meiji-era novelist
Japan's most widely read modern novelist, author of 吾輩は猫である, 坊っちゃん, and こころ. His works are standard reading in Japanese schools, so his name and his characters come up constantly in ordinary conversation about literature and education.
In everyday speech he is usually called just 漱石 — the pen name alone — the way English speakers say "Shakespeare." 夏目 is the family name and 漱石 the pen name.
Common expressions
Cultural note
His portrait appeared on the 1,000-yen note from 1984 to 2004, so older speakers may refer to that bill as 漱石. 坊っちゃん (the hot-headed young teacher of his novel) is used as a nickname for a naive, impulsive young man.