Lafcadio Hearn's Japan - (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

"Hearn's writing was not only true on the surface but in depth; not only to his conscious thinking but also to the submerged feelings that gave their rhythms to his prose....and he later proved that he knew which tales to choose and which details to emphasize, in exactly the right English." -- Malcolm Cowley

Lafcadio Hearn is the most significant early interpreter of Japan and Japanese culture for the West--a man who traveled to Japan when he was thirty-nine, and never left. Lafcadio Hearn's Japan presents Hearn's most famous stories and essays about his adopted land--recounting his love for its striking natural beauty and the rich character and customs of its people.

The 18 fascinating essays in this book include:

• "In a Japanese Garden" Hearn's classic description of the meditative calm and serenity he experienced when visiting a traditional Zen garden just outside his back door
• "Strangeness and Charm" Expressing his deep love for the richness and beauty of traditional Japanese culture
• "In the Cave of the Children's Ghosts" An account of a journey to an isolated sea cave where the souls of dead children are said to congregate

Lafcadio Hearn's Japan provides an unforgettable look at traditional Japan through the eyes of a sensitive and eloquent foreigner. This new edition features a foreword by Steve Kemme, a leading expert on Hearn and president of the Lafcadio Hearn Society (USA). It also includes 21 color photos showcasing the people and places which Hearn so lovingly describes.

Review Quotes

"All nations believed in the rebirth of the soul and had probably empirical evidence like that Lafcadio Hearn found among the Japanese." --William Butler Yeats

"Hearn's writing was not only true on the surface but in depth; not only to his conscious thinking but also to the submerged feelings that gave their rhythms to his prose....Long before coming to Japan he had shown an instinct for finding in legends the permanent archetypes of human experience--that is the secret of their power to move us--and he later proved that he knew which tales to choose and which details to emphasize, in exactly the right English." --Malcolm Cowley

"I had read a book about Japan by Lafcadio Hearn, and what he wrote about Japanese culture and their theatre aroused my desire to go there." --Charlie Chaplin

"I invested in a large number of books on Japan and tried to read some of them. I felt rather lost in Japanese history, but I liked the knightly tales and pleasant prose of Lafcadio Hearn." --Jawaharal Nehru

"In the turbid, shallow flood of the ephemeral books of our time Lafcadio Hearn's contribution to English letters has been partially obscured. But day by day, as these sink unfruitfully into the sands of time, more clearly emerge the stern and exquisite outlines of his patient work." --Elizabeth Bisland

"Lafcadio Hearn understands contemporary Japan better, and makes us understand it better, than any other writer, because he loves it better." --Basil Hall Chamberlain

About the Author

Lafcadio Hearn (1850-1904) was one of the earliest foreign writers to publish stories and essays about Japan in English. Arriving in 1890, he taught English literature and began publishing books on Japan in 1894, soon becoming known as the most perceptive interpreter of all things Japanese to the West. His books on Japan include Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan, Kwaidan and In Ghostly Japan.

Steve Kemme is president of the Lafcadio Hearn Society/USA and a former reporter for the Cincinnati Enquirer, where Hearn formerly worked. He is a member of the Japan Research Center of Greater Cincinnati and has spoken at Hearn symposiums worldwide.

Donald Richie (1924-2013), novelist, essayist, journalist, and film scholar, was born in Lima, Ohio, in 1924, but had spent most of the last sixty years witnessing and reporting on the transformation of Japan from postwar devastation to economic powerhouse. He was the author of some forty books of fiction and nonfiction, dozens of speeches and essays, and hundreds of book, film, and arts reviews.