Lafcadio Hearn

[1850-1904]

Collector's Bibliography Title Index Lafcadio Hearn Bookshop Bulletin Board Bulletin Board Archives Links

"Lafcadio Hearn is almost as Japanese as haiku. Both are an art form, an institution in Japan. Haiku is indigenous to the nation; Hearn became a Japanese citizen and married a Japanese, taking the name Yakumo Koizumi. His flight from Western materialism brought him to Japan in 1890. His search for beauty and tranquility, for pleasing customs and lasting values, kept him there the rest of his life, a confirmed Japanophile. He became the great interpreter of things Japanese to the West. His keen intellect, poetic imagination and wonderful clear style permitted him to penetrate to the very essence of things Japanese."

from Tuttle's "publisher's foreword" to Hearn editions

Biography
Hearn was born on the Greek island of Lefkas, on June 27, 1850, son of an Anglo-Irish surgeon major in the British army and a Greek mother. After his parents' divorce when he was six, he was brought up by a great-aunt in Dublin, Ireland. He lost the sight in his left eye at the age of 16, and soon after, his father died. A year later, due to his great-aunt's bankruptcy, he was forced to withdraw from school. At the age of nineteen he moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, where five years later he became a newspaper reporter. In 1877 Hearn went to New Orleans to write a series of articles, and remained there for ten years. Having achieved some success with his literary translations and other works, he was hired by Harper Publishing Co. He was in the West Indies on assignment from Harper from 1887-89, and wrote two novels on that period.
In 1889 he decided to go to Japan, and upon his arrival in Yokohama in the spring of 1890, was befriended by Basil Hall Chamberlain of Tokyo Imperial University, and officials at the Ministry of Education. At their encouragement, in the summer of 1890 he moved to Matsue, to teach English at Shimane Prefectural Common Middle School and Normal School. There he got to know Governor Koteda Yasusada and Sentaro Nishida of Shimane, and later married Setsu Koizumi, the daughter of a local samurai family.
Hearn stayed fifteen months in Matsue, moving on to another teaching position in Kumamoto, Kyushu, at the Fifth Higher Middle School, where he spent the next three years and completed his book Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan (1894). In October of 1894 he secured a journalism position with the English-language Kobe Chronicle, and in 1896, with some assistance from Chamberlain, he began teaching English literature at Tokyo (Imperial) University, a post he held until 1903, and at Waseda University. On September 26, 1904, he died of heart failure at the age of 54.
Hearn's most famous work is a collection of lectures entitled Japan: An Attempt at Interpretation (1904). His other books on Japan include Exotics and Retrospectives (1898), In Ghostly Japan (1899), Shadowings (1900), A Japanese Miscellany (1901), and Kwaidan (1904).

(Thanks to Alan Rosen of Kumamoto University, and Hisashi Matsumura of Kobe-Shinwa Joshi Daigaku, for corrections and information about Hearn's Japan period.)

Japanese version of the above biography by Hisashi Matsumura.

Letter points to Hearn's estrangement with Japan, The Japan Times, Sept. 25, 1998.

Two books, three Lafcadio Hearns, Lafcadio Hearn's Japan, Irish Writing on Lafcadio Hearn and Japan. The Japan Times, June 23, 1998.

Lafcadio Hearn: interpreter of two disparate worlds, by Roger Pulvers, The Japan Times, Jan. 19, 2000.

Hearn, Setsu, and Kajio in Kobe (photo courtesy of Toki Koizumi)
[from Pulvers' article, above]

 

Lafcadio Hearn Bulletin Board Bulletin Board postings, 1997 - 2005, are in the Archives. newest entries first bottom of Bulletin Board Hearn's self-description? March 25, 2009 – Online, I discovered, then lost track of, a paragraph in which LHearn seemed to be describing himself in pure word poetry, with words which at times seemed--as I remember it--those of *chemistry. Any idea where I might find it again? I'd tried searching through the "archives" but don't know what terms to use to search, having tried 'self' and 'describe/ description.' Doug Lafcadio Hearn oddity June 6, 2008 – I have a copy of "Two Years in the French West Indies" in binding such as I have never seen described. It is the 1890 edition, Harper, but the binding is ORANGE cloth with OLIVE decorative panels on front board and spine (i.e. seemingly just the opposite of the normal first edition, although the background to the lozenges on front board and spine is the orange cloth - not gilded.) Spine lettering in gilt. It appears in all other respects to be identical with the normal first edition, and I'm wondering if you can tell me anything about this apparent oddity. Yours truly, Larry Weissmann Kingston, Ontario Canada K7K 1V4 Hearn's lecture notes at Cornell Nov. 8, 2007 – I'm wondering if somebody knows about Hearn's planned lecture notes at Cornell University. What I've heard was that he was invited to give a lecture at the university around 1904. He was planning to go but he had to give up on the idea because of his deteriorating health condition. Does anybody know anything about the lecture notes? Ako Inuzuka Hearn Library in Toyama open to public April 13, 2007 – As you might have noticed, the New York Times on 20 February 2007 reported correspondent's journey to Hearn's hometown in Japan, Matsue. I hereby would like to provide another update from Japan. In 1924, Toyama University (Toyama, Japan) purchased Hearn's books (Japanese, English, French etc.) and manuscripts from his widow. The collection was installed in the university library, as "The Lafcadio Hearn Library". Unfortunately, the Library has been used by a limited number of academics. From April 2007, however, the university and the Toyama Hearn Society started to open the Library to public three times a month. The Library opens to the public on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Wednesday, from 1 to 4 PM. I could only find following homepages in Japanese. Lafcadio Hearn Library Toyama University's announcement Toyama Hearn Society But I think that you can contact to Professor Takanari of Toyama University, who is in charge of Toyama Hearn Society, in English. Toyama is within 3 and half hours from Tokyo by train. I wish the library would be of much interest for you. Sincerely yours, Ken NANNICHI Toyama, Japan. The New Orleans of Lafcadio Hearn: Illustrated Sketches from the "Daily City Item," Edited, with an Introduction, by Delia LaBarre. April 13, 2007. Lafcadio Hearn (1850–1904) was a master satirist who displayed a fiery wit both as a writer and as an artist. For seven months in 1880, he surprised and amused the readers of New Orleans with his wood-block "cartoons" and accompanying articles, which were variously funny, scathing, surreal, political, whimsical, and moral. This delightful book collects in their entirety, for the first time, all of the extant satirical columns and woodcut illustrations published in the Daily City Item—181 columns in all. Hearn displays immense range, illuminating in words and prints the unique culture of New Orleans, including its Creole history, debauched underworld, corrupt politicians, and voudou practitioners. The columns are expertly annotated by Delia LaBarre, who places them in their unique Crescent City context. With virtually no training in art of any kind, Hearn began creating his illustrations partly to boost the circulation of a small daily newspaper in a competitive market. He believed in the power of satirical cartoons to communicate big ideas in small spaces—in particular, to reveal the habits, prejudices, and delusions of the current generation. Blind in his left eye (since a boyhood accident) and severely myopic in his right, Hearn nonetheless painstakingly carved out drawings on wood blocks with a penknife to be printed alongside his articles on the newspaper's letterpress. Hearn developed, from the first of these woodcuts to the last, a unique style that expressed the full range of his wit, from razor-sharp condemnation to tender affection... More Here Louisiana State University Press ISBN: 0-8071-3243-8 cloth ISBN13: 978-0-8071-3243-2 Published 2007, $24.95 232 pages, 176 Line Drawings, 6.125 x 9.25. Delia LaBarre is Executive Director of the Hearn/Koizumi Center in New Orleans. Lafcadio Hearn Painting February 20, 2007 – I live in Buenos Aires, but bought a painting by Lafcadio Hearn when I lived in New York. It is a landscape of Mt. Fuji from 1895, signed on the back in Japanese, with an English inscription. If you could please inform me how to send photos by internet to the Hearn Residence, I would appreciate it. Also, I have one published rarity: GOMBO ZHEBES Little Dictionary of Creole Proverbs, published in New York in 1885. My copy came from the Long Island Historical Society, when they deaccessed many books and artworks. Sincerely, Leonard FInger. Hearn/Koizumi Center? Jan. 12, 2007 – Greetings from Niigata, Japan. I am a Louisiana native and 10-year resident of Japan. An avid reader of Lafcadio Hearn, I feel fortunate to share his interest in the cultures of South Louisiana and Japan. Like many other readers of Hearn, I welcomed the announcement of the founding of the New Orleans International Hearn Center in April of 2004. I was therefore dismayed to learn of the Center's closure a year later, months before Katrina devastated the city. My attempts to contact the Center's original Executive Director, Delia LaBarre, have so far proved fruitless. I have sent e-mails to a number of sites promising detailed information about post-Katrina New Orleans, all to no avail. An impenetrable fog seems to have enveloped the ill-fated Hearn Center. Does anyone know what happened? Brian R. Southwick Orphans in the snow? Sept. 23, 2006 – The tale to which Mr. Starns's query (5/31/06) refers is related in Section IX of the chapter entitled "By the Japanese Sea" in Hearn's Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan. Sincerely, Brian R. Southwick A poem in Words? August 22nd, 2006 – Might the "poem" referred to by Louise G Smith (May 17th, 2006) be none other than Lafcadio's familiar flow on the myriad meanings of words in a letter to his editor at Houghton-Mifflin who actually complained about Hearn's use of unfamiliar words: "Because people cannot see the color of words, the tints of words, the secret ghostly motion of words; "Because they cannot hear the whispering of words, the rustling of the procession of letters, the dream-flutes and dream-drums, which are thinly and weirdly played by words; "Because they cannot perceive the pouting of words, the frowning and fuming of words, the weeping, the raging and racketing and rioting of words; "Because they are insensible to the phosphorescing of words, the fragrance of words, the noisomeness of words, the tenderness or hardness, the dryness or juiciness of words – the interchange of values in the gold, the silver, the brass and the copper of words – "Is that any reason why we should not try to make them hear, to make them see, to make them feel?" John Moran Dublin, Ireland Orphans in the snow? May 31, 2006 – Does anyone know the story of the orphaned brother and sister who are turned out of their home by the landlord in the dead of winter? And the gods took pity on them and covered them the most beautiful white blanket. I cannot place which book it is in, and have looked in all the Hearn books I can find, can anyone tell me the name of the book? Mike Starn "WORDS" ... A short poem by Lafcadio Hearn May 17, 2006 – Do you have any knowledge of the subject poem? I first learned it from an English professor in about 1975, but have forgotten all but the lyrical cadence. Can you help me? Louise G. Smith San Juan Island, WA Lafcadio Hearn: He Saw Art as Kindness February 13, 2006 – A recent page: Aesthetic Realism Class of July 10, 1968 Taught by Eli Siegel - Report by Sheldon Kranz... with an interesting view of Hearn's view of art. (2nd part of article). ST Hearn photos and signature February 8, 2006 – The New York Public Library's print collection contains some nice Hearn photos, as also what appears to be a steel-plate engraving with a facsimilie of his signature. In addition, there are interesting photos of Hearn's funeral procession and grave site. Does anyone know where these were taken? Stuart Smith 1918 REMINISCENCES OF LAFCADIO HEARN on eBay January 15, 2006 – On eBay this week - Setsuko Koizumi's "Reminisces"... Ralph Matthews Reply or add a question by e-mail

Collector's Bibliography
Title Index

Links:

Lafcadio Hearn Society of Matsue Japan

K. Inadomi's Private Library, including Hearn's Family Tree

Koizumi Yakumo page (in Japanese), from Kumamoto Bungaku Sanpo [Kumamoto Literary Stroll], including Hearn's The Future of the Far East from Momoi Yuichi-sensei, in Japanese and English. (also mirrored in English here)

Fukushima Daichi's Exploring Lafcadio Hearn in Tokyo

Lafcadio Hearn Memorial Museum (a different site. Title in Japanese: "The Lafcadio Hearn Memorial Museum; Koizumi Yakumo Kinenkan")

Lafcadio Hearn and the Hearn Library (Toyama U.) (In Japanese).

Lafcadio Hearn: "In a Japanese Garden" by Negishi Yasuko.

Negishi Yasuko's Mimi-Nashi-Houichi site, with the Japanese text of Gayuu-Kidan as images, so a Japanese-character browser isn't necessary.

Stephen Feldman's Asian Rare Books in NYC often offers Hearn items for sale.

Jerrold G. Stanoff's Rare Oriental Book Company - a major Hearn resource!

Hearn texts online:

At this site

from Kwaidan (1904)
Yuki-onna.
The Story of O-Tei.
Mujina.
Of a Mirror and a Bell.
and
In a Japanese Garden.
The Mound Builders, article from The Commercial, (Cincinnati) April 24, 1876.

At Eric Eldred's Lafcadio Hearn page:

Fuji-no-Yama from Exotics and Retrospectives (1898).
The Story of Mimi-Nashi-Hôïchi from Kwaidan.
Oshidori from Kwaidan.
Diplomacy from Kwaidan.
My First Romance, originally published in "The Writings of Lafcadio Hearn," Houghton Mifflin: Boston and New York, 1922.

At Fukushima Daichi's Exploring Lafcadio Hearn in Tokyo:

"Bits of Poetry" from "In Ghostly Japan"
"In Yokohama" from "Out of the East"
"Farewell Address" from "Interpretations of Literature"
"Romance of the Milky Way" from "The Romance of the Milky Way and Other Studies and Stories"
"Some Foreign Poems on Japanese Subjects" from "Interpretations of Literature"

At Gaslight etexts' Kwaidan:

Introduction.
The Story of Mimi-Nashi-Hôïchi.
Oshidori.
The Story of O-Tei.
Obazakura.
Diplomacy.
Of a Mirror and a Bell.
Jikininki.
Mujina.
Rokuro-Kubi.

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Lafacdio Hearn in Atlantic Monthly, Harper's Monthly, The Century online at Cornell University's Making of America website (From The Atlantic if not otherwise marked) About Faces in Japanese Art, August 1896, Volume 78, Issue 466, pp. 219-227 After the War, November 1895, Volume 76, Issue 457, pp. 599-605 At Grande Anse, Harper's, November, 1889, Volume 79, Issue 474, pp. 844-857 At Hakata, October 1894, Volume 74, Issue 444, pp. 510-514 At the Market of the Dead, September 1891, Volume 68, Issue 407, pp. 382-389 The Chief City of the Province of the Gods, November 1891, Volume 68, Issue 409, pp. 621-635 China and the Western World, April 1896, Volume 77, Issue 462, pp. 450-465 Chita. A Memory of Last Island. A Novelette, Harper's, April 1888, Volume 76, Issue 455, pp. 733-767 Dust, November 1896, Volume 78, Issue 469, pp. 642-646 From my Japanese Diary, November 1894, Volume 74, Issue 445, pp. 609-618 The Genius of Japanese Civilization, October 1895, Volume 76, Issue 456, pp. 449-458 A Ghost, Harper's, December, 1889, Volume 80, Issue 475, pp. 116-119 In a Japanese Garden, July 1892, Volume 70, Issue 417, pp. 14-33 In the Twilight of the Gods, June 1895, Volume 75, Issue 452, pp. 791-795 The Japanese Smile, May 1893, Volume 71, Issue 427, pp. 634-646 Les Porteuses, Harper's, July, 1889, Volume 79, Issue 470, pp. 299-304 A Living God, December 1896, Volume 78, Issue 470, pp. 833-841 A Midsummer Trip To the West Indies, Harper's, July 1888, Volume 77, Issue 458, pp. 209-227 A Midsummer Trip To the West Indies, Harper's, August 1888, Volume 77, Issue 459, pp. 327-345 A Midsummer Trip To the West Indies, Harper's, September 1888, Volume 77, Issue 460, pp. 614-632 The Most Ancient Shrine in Japan, December 1891, Volume 68, Issue 410, pp. 780-796 Notes from a Traveling Diary, December 1895, Volume 76, Issue 458, pp. 815-822 Notes on a Trip to Izumo, May 1897, Volume 79, Issue 475, pp. 678-687 Of a Dancing Girl, March 1893, Volume 71, Issue 425, pp. 332-344 Of the Eternal Feminine, December 1893, Volume 72, Issue 434, pp. 761-773 Out of the Street: Japanese Folk-Songs, September 1896, Volume 78, Issue 467, pp. 347-352 The Red Bridal, July 1894, Volume 74, Issue 441, pp. 74-85 The Scenes of Cable's Romances, The Century, November 1883, Volume 27, Issue 1, pp. 40-48 A Trip to Kyoto, May 1896, Volume 77, Issue 463, pp. 613-625 La Verette and the Carnival In St. Pierre, Martinique, Harper's, October 1888, Volume 77, Issue 461, pp. 737-763 A Winter Journey To Japan, Harper's, November 1890, Volume 81, Issue 486, pp. 860-901 A Wish Fulfilled, January 1895, Volume 75, Issue 447, pp. 90-96 Youma, Harper's, January 1890, Volume 80, Issue 476, pp. 218-236 Youma, Harper's, February 1890, Volume 80, Issue 477, pp. 408-425 (thanks to Graham Law for pointing out the source of some of these)

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Photograph by Frederick Gutekunst, 1889: Lafcadio Hearn, age thirty-nine, shortly before his departure for Japan. Lafcadio Hearn Collection, Rare Books Section, Howard-Tilton Memorial Library, Tulane University.

The title characters are the Japanese characters for Koizumi Yakumo, Hearn's Japanese name: ko-izumi 'small spring,' ya-kumo 'eight clouds'.

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