Natsume's Book of Friends (夏目友人帳) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yuki Midorikawa. It started in Hakusensha's manga magazine LaLa DX in June 2003, where it ran until April 2008; it has been serialized in LaLa since July 2007. Its chapters have been collected in 33 volumes as of April 2026. The manga is licensed for English release in North America by Viz Media, which released the first volume in January 2010.
The series follows Takashi Natsume, an orphan boy in his late teens who can perceive and combat. One day, Natsume finds a very old notebook called the "Book of Friends", left by his late maternal grandmother Reiko, who shared similar abilities and was widely known among local to possess strong spiritual powers. The notebook was used to bind dozens of powerful demonic spirits, both good and evil, to follow Reiko's every whim and desire if called upon. Natsume resolves to give back all the names in notebook; in the process, he joins forces with another feline/wolf-like spirit called Madara (nicknamed "Nyanko-sensei"), who knew Reiko when she was alive. Madara takes the form of an overweight cat and intends to take back the notebook after Natsume dies. Until then, he agrees to protect Natsume from the nefarious spirits who want to harm him for being the grandson of Reiko.
The series has been adapted into a series drama CDs. An anime television series adaptation, produced by Brain's Base (seasons 1–4) and Shuka (seasons 5 onwards), have been broadcast on TV Tokyo in 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2016, 2017, and 2024.