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Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan: Two Volumes in One
Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan is a complete, two-volume set of one of the most outstanding books on 19th century Japanese history and culture.
Though Lafcadio Hearn went on to write a dozen more books on Japan, this collection of first impressions remains his most popular. Among the reasons is that here, more than anywhere else, the author most vividly captured a place that so affected him that he stayed for the rest of his life. The modern reader can still, through these pages, experience that "first charm of Japan, intangible and volatile as a perfume."
Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan combines two volumes of a work that first appeared in 1894. In the pages of this book are the customs, the superstitions, the charming scenery, the revelations of Japanese character, and all the other elements that Lafcadio Hearn found so bewitching. Here, for example, are essays on such subjects as the Japanese garden, the household shrine, the festivals, and the bewildering Japanese smile--all aspects of Japanese life that have endured in spite of the changes that have taken place during the modernization of Japan. The Japanese character and the Japanese tradition are still fundamentally the same as Hearn found them to be, and for this reason, his writing is still extremely revealing to modern readers.
This edition also contains a new foreword by noted writer and examiner of Japanese culture Donnie Richie that puts Lafcadio Hearn and his classic works into perspective for readers just discovering Hearn's writing for the first time.
Though Lafcadio Hearn went on to write a dozen more books on Japan, this collection of first impressions remains his most popular. Among the reasons is that here, more than anywhere else, the author most vividly captured a place that so affected him that he stayed for the rest of his life. The modern reader can still, through these pages, experience that "first charm of Japan, intangible and volatile as a perfume."
Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan combines two volumes of a work that first appeared in 1894. In the pages of this book are the customs, the superstitions, the charming scenery, the revelations of Japanese character, and all the other elements that Lafcadio Hearn found so bewitching. Here, for example, are essays on such subjects as the Japanese garden, the household shrine, the festivals, and the bewildering Japanese smile--all aspects of Japanese life that have endured in spite of the changes that have taken place during the modernization of Japan. The Japanese character and the Japanese tradition are still fundamentally the same as Hearn found them to be, and for this reason, his writing is still extremely revealing to modern readers.
This edition also contains a new foreword by noted writer and examiner of Japanese culture Donnie Richie that puts Lafcadio Hearn and his classic works into perspective for readers just discovering Hearn's writing for the first time.
608 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1894
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854 people want to read
About the author
Lafcadio Hearn
1,460 books446 followersGreek-born American writer Lafcadio Hearn spent 15 years in Japan; people note his collections of stories and essays, including
Kokoro
(1896), under pen name Koizumi Yakumo.
Rosa Cassimati (Ρόζα Αντωνίου Κασιμάτη in Greek), a Greek woman, bore Patrick Lafcadio Hearn (Πατρίκιος Λευκάδιος Χερν in Greek or 小泉八雲 in Japanese), a son, to Charles Hearn, an army doctor from Ireland. After making remarkable works in America as a journalist, he went to Japan in 1890 as a journey report writer of a magazine. He arrived in Yokohama, but because of a dissatisfaction with the contract, he quickly quit the job. He afterward moved to Matsué as an English teacher of Shimané prefectural middle school. In Matsué, he got acquainted with Nishida Sentarô, a colleague teacher and his lifelong friend, and married Koizumi Setsu, a daughter of a samurai.
In 1891, he moved to Kumamoto and taught at the fifth high school for three years. Kanô Jigorô, the president of the school of that time, spread judo to the world.
Hearn worked as a journalist in Kôbé and afterward in 1896 got Japanese citizenship and a new name, Koizumi Yakumo. He took this name from "Kojiki," a Japanese ancient myth, which roughly translates as "the place where the clouds are born". On that year, he moved to Tôkyô and began to teach at the Imperial University of Tôkyô. He got respect of students, many of whom made a remarkable literary career. In addition, he wrote much reports of Japan and published in America. So many people read his works as an introduction of Japan. He quit the Imperial University in 1903 and began to teach at Waseda University on the year next. Nevertheless, after only a half year, he died of angina pectoris.
Rosa Cassimati (Ρόζα Αντωνίου Κασιμάτη in Greek), a Greek woman, bore Patrick Lafcadio Hearn (Πατρίκιος Λευκάδιος Χερν in Greek or 小泉八雲 in Japanese), a son, to Charles Hearn, an army doctor from Ireland. After making remarkable works in America as a journalist, he went to Japan in 1890 as a journey report writer of a magazine. He arrived in Yokohama, but because of a dissatisfaction with the contract, he quickly quit the job. He afterward moved to Matsué as an English teacher of Shimané prefectural middle school. In Matsué, he got acquainted with Nishida Sentarô, a colleague teacher and his lifelong friend, and married Koizumi Setsu, a daughter of a samurai.
In 1891, he moved to Kumamoto and taught at the fifth high school for three years. Kanô Jigorô, the president of the school of that time, spread judo to the world.
Hearn worked as a journalist in Kôbé and afterward in 1896 got Japanese citizenship and a new name, Koizumi Yakumo. He took this name from "Kojiki," a Japanese ancient myth, which roughly translates as "the place where the clouds are born". On that year, he moved to Tôkyô and began to teach at the Imperial University of Tôkyô. He got respect of students, many of whom made a remarkable literary career. In addition, he wrote much reports of Japan and published in America. So many people read his works as an introduction of Japan. He quit the Imperial University in 1903 and began to teach at Waseda University on the year next. Nevertheless, after only a half year, he died of angina pectoris.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
March 15, 2018
"Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan" is a compilation of 27 sketches on Japanese culture, of which 10 appeared initially in publications such as the Atlantic Monthly intended for the general American public. The pieces are tremendously charming and cover a wide range of topics including Shinto, Buddhism in its Japanese form, religious architecture, superstition, cuisine, music, mythology, clothing, hair styles, domestic architecture, geishas, gardening, poetry, calligraphy, art (especially kakemono), children's toys, retailing, the Japanese love of nature, education and child rearing. Hearn's book will be tremendous delight to someone like myself who has been a fan of Japanese popular culture for almost sixty hours.
Although the book is overly long and given to dreadful meanders it contains two major themes that give it unity. First it describes Hearn's spiritual voyage to his conversion to Buddhism which will occur in 1896 roughly two years after the publication of "Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan". Second it provides a comprehensive analysis of the religious culture in Japan given particular prominence to the dialogue between Buddhism and Shinto.
A major thesis of Hearn is that Buddhism is true monotheistic religion focussed on developing the inner Buddha and overcoming existential pain by not seeking physical pleasure whereas Shinto is simply the set of values of the Japanese people with no explicit theology. In Hearn's view Buddhism was suffering badly under modernization whereas Shinto was becoming stronger at the end of the nineteenth century. Hearn argued that in the new industrial world Shinto's core ideas of loyalty to family and society had strong appeal whereas Buddhism appeared increasingly to be a quaint old-fashioned spirituality.
Hearn is above-all an aesthete like Ruskin or Proust who gushes with enthusiasm for the culture. If one shares Hearn's extravagant love Japanese culture "Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan" is a great read.
Although the book is overly long and given to dreadful meanders it contains two major themes that give it unity. First it describes Hearn's spiritual voyage to his conversion to Buddhism which will occur in 1896 roughly two years after the publication of "Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan". Second it provides a comprehensive analysis of the religious culture in Japan given particular prominence to the dialogue between Buddhism and Shinto.
A major thesis of Hearn is that Buddhism is true monotheistic religion focussed on developing the inner Buddha and overcoming existential pain by not seeking physical pleasure whereas Shinto is simply the set of values of the Japanese people with no explicit theology. In Hearn's view Buddhism was suffering badly under modernization whereas Shinto was becoming stronger at the end of the nineteenth century. Hearn argued that in the new industrial world Shinto's core ideas of loyalty to family and society had strong appeal whereas Buddhism appeared increasingly to be a quaint old-fashioned spirituality.
Hearn is above-all an aesthete like Ruskin or Proust who gushes with enthusiasm for the culture. If one shares Hearn's extravagant love Japanese culture "Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan" is a great read.
April 8, 2013
I really enjoy reading Hearn, you feel the love, admiration and respect he had for the country and the people. He seemed a man ahead of his time, there's no bigotry or superiority complex in his writings. I loved reading this book, the descriptions of the temples and shrines, nature, even the curiosity of the people on seeing a foreigner. He writes about the everyday man and woman, their kindness to him, the changes the country is going through. His writings on buddhism, shinto, the syncretism and the beliefs of each one are very interesting.
March 10, 2013
Hearn certainly gives unfamiliar glimpses of Japan in this book. Exploring out-of-the-way villages and remote shrines, Hearn wrote about the country’s culture and tradition from the perspective, mostly, of a traveler so delighted, charmed and, eventually, bewitched by what he saw that he didn’t leave and settled in Japan for good. He discussed many aspects of the Japanese culture – from cemeteries to dolls; sacred groves to child raising; boating to suicide rituals – that one would be impressed by the great lengths he put into his writing, for he did took the trouble to write down names and some dialogues in Japanese. The text, though, focuses mostly on how ingrained Shinto and Buddhism had been in the lives of simple people who mostly hadn’t seen a European before. Hearn wrote in great details the temples he visited – their architecture, and economic and spiritual influences. He devoted great pages on folklore, pantheons of Shinto gods and goddesses, and religious rituals. Although he lamented a bit on how the big and busy cities are becoming Occidentalized, Hearn never judged nor looked down on the people he met. He described what he saw and left no room for editorializing. That is, no Me-Tarzan-you-Cheetah remarks in the book. However, the very fascination he held for the people and land didn’t leave much room for any negative traits either. (No wonder he was accused of romanticizing the Japanese to a fault.) And he seemed to have forgotten at times that his regret in the invasion of Western advancements was ironic considering that the very presence of Buddhism, which he explored in great details in this book, shows that an earlier invasion had come to the land – that before “occidentalization” “orientalization” had come first.
July 22, 2013
My favorite book on ancient Japan, especially the parts that relate to Izumo (now Shimane prefecture), where I lived for three years on the JET program. Every time I explored an obscure shrine or temple or very remote mountain and seaside village around lake Shinji (between Izumo and Matsue), I tried to imagine how Hearn would have seen them. And it was quite a trip to find out that his grandson Koizumi Bon works at a university in Shimane. I once met the Irish ambassador to Japan on a ferry heading to Oki Island, tracing the travels of Hearn, who was half-Irish, half-Greek. He was actually researching how much Hearn's wife was involved in producing his books, especially Kwaidan.
Hearn (who chose the Japanese name Koizumi Yakumo and had three children in Shimane) writes with such beautiful descriptive language about aspects of Japan neglected by those who only spent time in more modernized parts of Japan. His writing skills were first honed as a crime beat journalist in New Orleans, and developed more fully through his love of Japan. His works on Japan deserve much greater attention than they have until now.
Hearn (who chose the Japanese name Koizumi Yakumo and had three children in Shimane) writes with such beautiful descriptive language about aspects of Japan neglected by those who only spent time in more modernized parts of Japan. His writing skills were first honed as a crime beat journalist in New Orleans, and developed more fully through his love of Japan. His works on Japan deserve much greater attention than they have until now.
July 28, 2012
Considering this is available on Gutenberg, I`m surprised more, especially many of my friends on Goodreads who are avid readers of Japanese literature have not at least added this to their to-read list.
Hearn`s definitely worth reading if you are interested in the Japanese culture of the past, and to some extent, the present.
Hearn`s definitely worth reading if you are interested in the Japanese culture of the past, and to some extent, the present.
March 21, 2022
Lafcadio Hearn (1850–1904) had one life-long obsession: the quest for the odd, the exotic and the monstrous. Born in Greece from an Irish father serving in the British military and a Greek mother, his first name recalled Lefkada, the island of his birth. At age two he was brought to Ireland and discarded by both parents whose marriage soon broke up - he would never meet them again. Hearn was brought up with Christian severity by a wealthy great-aunt who mostly sent him away to boarding schools - also one in France, which gave Hearn his excellent command of that language; interestingly, he was a classmate of Guy de Maupassant, and maintained a life-long interested in French literature. In a fight at school in the U.K., Hearn lost the sight in one eye and this made him look rather grotesque: he had to go through life with one blind eye and one bulging, staring eye and was very myopic. He was also painfully introverted. The strictly religious upbringing gave him a strong dislike of organized religion and later in life Hearn professed himself as a pagan, harking back to both his Greek heritage and beliefs he encountered in Japan.
After Hearn's great-aunt was swindled out of her money, Hearn had to start fending for himself, and at age 19 he crossed over to the United States to seek his fortune in the New World, where he ended up in Cincinnati. After working as a proof reader, he started doing journalistic work, finally becoming a reporter for the Cincinnati Daily Enquirer, achieving local fame for his lurid accounts of murders and other sensational crimes. At this time, already, Hearn was drawn to anecdote and exoticism. A relationship with an African-American woman, illegal at the time, led to his dismissal as editorial writer and, enticed by the exotic South, in 1877 Hearn moved to New Orleans, where during the next ten years he wrote for several papers, such as the Times-Democrat. His main interests were the Creole population and its culture, including its cuisine – Hearn even wrote a Creole cookbook. He wrote odd fantasies and arabesques for the paper and also contributed articles and sketches to national magazines, such as Harper's and Scribner's; in addition to publishing his first creative works: the novella Chita (about a tsunami that destroys an island in the Gulf of Mexico, sweeping everybody away, the only survivor a child clinging to the dead body of its mother), Stray Leaves from Strange Literature, a retelling of stories from the Egyptian Book of the Dead, Buddhist legend, etc., as well as translations from the lushly decadent French author Théophile Gautier.
Hearn loved the dilapidated streets and crumbling wooden houses of the Creole town, the vestiges of French and Spanish culture, the ancestor worship and the voodoo ceremonies. But the South was modernizing, too, having recovered from the Civil War, as was symbolized by the World Fair of 1884 held in the city. Incidentally, the World Fair also became Hearn's first deeper acquaintance with Japan - he dedicated several articles to the Japanese pavilion and the fine workmanship of the crafts on display and befriended Hattori Ichizo, who was in charge of the Educational Exhibit. But all the newfangled electric lights brought on by the Fair meant that the Creole City was losing its charm and in 1887 Hearn left for more exotic climes. He was sent by Harper's as a correspondent to the West Indies and lived for two years in St. Pierre on Martinique, which led to two books about these exotic islands, one a travelogue and the other the novel Youma.
Then in 1890 Hearn had the chance to travel to Japan to write a series of articles, but once there, he liked the country so much that with the help of Basil Hall Chamberlain, the well-known English Professor at Tokyo Imperial University with whom Hearn had been corresponding, he stayed on and started working in various teaching jobs. His first teaching job was in Matsue, a town with an old history, rich in legends and folklore, in Western Japan on the Japan Sea coast – a place exactly after Hearn's heart. During his 15-month stay in Matsue, he married Koizumi Setsu, the daughter of a local samurai. Later, he became a naturalized Japanese with the name Koizumi Yakumo. The stay in then still heavily traditional Matsue was formative: Hearn developed into the collector of miscellany, the transcriber of local lore, countless bits of information from the old Japan that was fast being discarded by the Japanese themselves. He wrote about Buddhist festivals, fireflies, the Japanese smile, women's hair, any traditional subject that intrigued him.
After a further teaching job in Kumamoto (a matter-of-fact modernizing city Hearn was not so fond of) and a stint as journalist in Kobe, in 1896 Hearn could move to Tokyo where he received a prestigious teaching position at Tokyo University (thanks again to the help from his friends). Hearn, an extremely hard worker who had ruined his health with his frenetic journalistic jobs and fits of extreme poverty in the U.S., died in 1904 of heart failure, aged only 54 years.
Hearn's first book about Japan, Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan, was published in 1894 and until his death, every year a new book would follow, including the famous Kwaidan (1903). In these books, Hearn concentrated on folklore, ghost stories, insects, quaint things and, of course, graves. Hearn became known to the world by his writings about Japan, and is more famous in Japan than in the West, where critics accuse him of treating his adopted country in an exotic way. True, Hearn was not a great original author, he was a re-teller, an interpreter of other cultures for a Western public. But his hunting for strange pieces of literature from the whole world reminds me of Borges; while his writings, mostly short, diverse, about any topic that happened to strike his fancy, are like a superior blog.
Hearn has always been honored in Japan because of his reverence for the Japanese tradition, for which he even gave up his own culture, although much of that tradition was in the process of being discarded by the Japanese themselves. In contrast to other foreigners in Japan at that time, he was not arrogant and did not look down on the Japanese - on the contrary, he disliked the Western community and evaded it as much as possible. Hearn lived in his own imagination and his many books provide fascinating vignettes about old customs and quaint lore, about the odd, the exotic and the monstrous - subjects Hearn sought after for his whole life. But as the selections below show, in Japan Hearn also found happiness. They are not only interesting as glimpses of Japanese culture, but also as Hearn's visions of the bizarre.
My favorite book by Hearn is Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan, originally published in two volumes in 1894, because Hearn's observations about Japan, just after his arrival in both Yokohama and Matsue, are the freshest. Take for example "My first Day in the Orient". Hearn had long been in love with Japanese culture before he arrived in Yokohama on April 4, 1890, and here he describes his first impressions of the country during a ride by kuruma (rickshaw) out of the European quarter of Yokohama into the Japanese town. Also today's reader can still experience that "first charm of Japan, intangible and volatile as a perfume."
In "The Chief City of the Province of the Gods" Hearn describes his arrival in Matsue, the capital of remote Shimane Prefecture. Hearn received a position as teacher English and arrived there on August 30, 1890. This essay gives his first impressions of the city he loved most in Japan. Other impressive essays are for example "In the Cave of the Children's Ghosts," "In a Japanese Garden" (in which Hearn describes the garden of a samurai house he rented in Matsue, now open to the public as "Lafcadio Hearn's Residence" together with a neighboring "Lafcadio Hearn Memorial Museum"), the strange "Of Women's Hair" and "From Hoki to Oki" about his visit to the Oki Islands.
In the pages of this book are the customs, the superstitions, the charming scenery, the revelations of Japanese character, and all the other elements that Lafcadio Hearn found so bewitching. Here, for example, are essays on such subjects as the Japanese garden, the household shrine, the festivals, and the bewildering Japanese smile—all aspects of Japanese life that have endured in spite of the changes that have taken place during the modernization of Japan. The Japanese character and the Japanese tradition are still fundamentally the same as Hearn found them to be, and for this reason, his writing is still extremely revealing to modern readers.
Also read my blog https://adblankestijn.blogspot.com/.
After Hearn's great-aunt was swindled out of her money, Hearn had to start fending for himself, and at age 19 he crossed over to the United States to seek his fortune in the New World, where he ended up in Cincinnati. After working as a proof reader, he started doing journalistic work, finally becoming a reporter for the Cincinnati Daily Enquirer, achieving local fame for his lurid accounts of murders and other sensational crimes. At this time, already, Hearn was drawn to anecdote and exoticism. A relationship with an African-American woman, illegal at the time, led to his dismissal as editorial writer and, enticed by the exotic South, in 1877 Hearn moved to New Orleans, where during the next ten years he wrote for several papers, such as the Times-Democrat. His main interests were the Creole population and its culture, including its cuisine – Hearn even wrote a Creole cookbook. He wrote odd fantasies and arabesques for the paper and also contributed articles and sketches to national magazines, such as Harper's and Scribner's; in addition to publishing his first creative works: the novella Chita (about a tsunami that destroys an island in the Gulf of Mexico, sweeping everybody away, the only survivor a child clinging to the dead body of its mother), Stray Leaves from Strange Literature, a retelling of stories from the Egyptian Book of the Dead, Buddhist legend, etc., as well as translations from the lushly decadent French author Théophile Gautier.
Hearn loved the dilapidated streets and crumbling wooden houses of the Creole town, the vestiges of French and Spanish culture, the ancestor worship and the voodoo ceremonies. But the South was modernizing, too, having recovered from the Civil War, as was symbolized by the World Fair of 1884 held in the city. Incidentally, the World Fair also became Hearn's first deeper acquaintance with Japan - he dedicated several articles to the Japanese pavilion and the fine workmanship of the crafts on display and befriended Hattori Ichizo, who was in charge of the Educational Exhibit. But all the newfangled electric lights brought on by the Fair meant that the Creole City was losing its charm and in 1887 Hearn left for more exotic climes. He was sent by Harper's as a correspondent to the West Indies and lived for two years in St. Pierre on Martinique, which led to two books about these exotic islands, one a travelogue and the other the novel Youma.
Then in 1890 Hearn had the chance to travel to Japan to write a series of articles, but once there, he liked the country so much that with the help of Basil Hall Chamberlain, the well-known English Professor at Tokyo Imperial University with whom Hearn had been corresponding, he stayed on and started working in various teaching jobs. His first teaching job was in Matsue, a town with an old history, rich in legends and folklore, in Western Japan on the Japan Sea coast – a place exactly after Hearn's heart. During his 15-month stay in Matsue, he married Koizumi Setsu, the daughter of a local samurai. Later, he became a naturalized Japanese with the name Koizumi Yakumo. The stay in then still heavily traditional Matsue was formative: Hearn developed into the collector of miscellany, the transcriber of local lore, countless bits of information from the old Japan that was fast being discarded by the Japanese themselves. He wrote about Buddhist festivals, fireflies, the Japanese smile, women's hair, any traditional subject that intrigued him.
After a further teaching job in Kumamoto (a matter-of-fact modernizing city Hearn was not so fond of) and a stint as journalist in Kobe, in 1896 Hearn could move to Tokyo where he received a prestigious teaching position at Tokyo University (thanks again to the help from his friends). Hearn, an extremely hard worker who had ruined his health with his frenetic journalistic jobs and fits of extreme poverty in the U.S., died in 1904 of heart failure, aged only 54 years.
Hearn's first book about Japan, Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan, was published in 1894 and until his death, every year a new book would follow, including the famous Kwaidan (1903). In these books, Hearn concentrated on folklore, ghost stories, insects, quaint things and, of course, graves. Hearn became known to the world by his writings about Japan, and is more famous in Japan than in the West, where critics accuse him of treating his adopted country in an exotic way. True, Hearn was not a great original author, he was a re-teller, an interpreter of other cultures for a Western public. But his hunting for strange pieces of literature from the whole world reminds me of Borges; while his writings, mostly short, diverse, about any topic that happened to strike his fancy, are like a superior blog.
Hearn has always been honored in Japan because of his reverence for the Japanese tradition, for which he even gave up his own culture, although much of that tradition was in the process of being discarded by the Japanese themselves. In contrast to other foreigners in Japan at that time, he was not arrogant and did not look down on the Japanese - on the contrary, he disliked the Western community and evaded it as much as possible. Hearn lived in his own imagination and his many books provide fascinating vignettes about old customs and quaint lore, about the odd, the exotic and the monstrous - subjects Hearn sought after for his whole life. But as the selections below show, in Japan Hearn also found happiness. They are not only interesting as glimpses of Japanese culture, but also as Hearn's visions of the bizarre.
My favorite book by Hearn is Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan, originally published in two volumes in 1894, because Hearn's observations about Japan, just after his arrival in both Yokohama and Matsue, are the freshest. Take for example "My first Day in the Orient". Hearn had long been in love with Japanese culture before he arrived in Yokohama on April 4, 1890, and here he describes his first impressions of the country during a ride by kuruma (rickshaw) out of the European quarter of Yokohama into the Japanese town. Also today's reader can still experience that "first charm of Japan, intangible and volatile as a perfume."
In "The Chief City of the Province of the Gods" Hearn describes his arrival in Matsue, the capital of remote Shimane Prefecture. Hearn received a position as teacher English and arrived there on August 30, 1890. This essay gives his first impressions of the city he loved most in Japan. Other impressive essays are for example "In the Cave of the Children's Ghosts," "In a Japanese Garden" (in which Hearn describes the garden of a samurai house he rented in Matsue, now open to the public as "Lafcadio Hearn's Residence" together with a neighboring "Lafcadio Hearn Memorial Museum"), the strange "Of Women's Hair" and "From Hoki to Oki" about his visit to the Oki Islands.
In the pages of this book are the customs, the superstitions, the charming scenery, the revelations of Japanese character, and all the other elements that Lafcadio Hearn found so bewitching. Here, for example, are essays on such subjects as the Japanese garden, the household shrine, the festivals, and the bewildering Japanese smile—all aspects of Japanese life that have endured in spite of the changes that have taken place during the modernization of Japan. The Japanese character and the Japanese tradition are still fundamentally the same as Hearn found them to be, and for this reason, his writing is still extremely revealing to modern readers.
Also read my blog https://adblankestijn.blogspot.com/.
July 20, 2016
A beautiful trip to the past: nineteenth century Japan as seen through the eyes of half-Irish half-Greek Lafcadio Hearn. Cultural insights into the country that are still relevant over a hundred years later. Surprisingly fresh in his descriptions. Echoes of the Wildean aesthetic as well as the Victorian focus on faeries and the supernatural (Yeats?). However he never goes overboard on the "Mysterious East" of Japan. Perhaps because he decided to settle there after an adventurous life in New Orleans and elsewhere. Footnote: his Irish nanny in Waterford was named Ronane so quite possibly a distant relative!
July 13, 2014
Lafcadio Hearn's travels remind me of Robert Louis Stevenson's "Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes." They were both written in the late 1800s and give you a wonderful glimpse at our world before restaurants, cars and zippers. Hearn is an oddity as he roams the sea towns of western Japan, but he loves the kindness, the religions and the rituals he finds in the Japanese countryside. He also loves ghosts and darkness, so much of his time is spent in Shinto shrines or describing dark waters and high cliffs. I kept hoping he would wander into Kyoto or Tokyo or even a large town...but like Stevenson he never did, so I will move on to Hearn's other books, "Japan: an attempt at Interpretation," and "Kokoro Japanese Inner Life Hints" and see what else he discovered.
February 4, 2017
Hearn is a bit of a legend for me, who has always been interested in Japanese culture. In Glimpses, his account is fair and wholehearted, yet exceedingly descriptive and focused on insights on Japanese temples, shrines, Shinto and Buddhism. Were it more varied in nature, I would have liked it more, though perhaps that is but a feature of the times he wrote it in. Also, the Kindle edition footnotes lack the hyperlink, which makes the attempt of looking quickly at them when they occur rather impractical.
March 19, 2016
Full disclosure: I didn't properly read the whole book. It was a library book, moving houses, excuses excuses.
Hearn is incredibly romantic and poetic, truly the poster man for rose-tinted glasses. However, he is reasonable and far from delusional. More than a hundred years later and though daily life has changed, his writings still read well.
So, all in all, a good book. I enjoyed traveling through his Japan.
Hearn is incredibly romantic and poetic, truly the poster man for rose-tinted glasses. However, he is reasonable and far from delusional. More than a hundred years later and though daily life has changed, his writings still read well.
So, all in all, a good book. I enjoyed traveling through his Japan.
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July 6, 2015Me encanta como escriben estos viejitos. El gil lleva 32 páginas disculpándose por escribir el libro.
Una vez terminado, bastante cursi pero divertido. Le sigue faltando el encanto de Will Durant pero este tipo esta igual de enamorado de Japon que james Clavell..
Una vez terminado, bastante cursi pero divertido. Le sigue faltando el encanto de Will Durant pero este tipo esta igual de enamorado de Japon que james Clavell..
August 23, 2017
Fascinating, if long and a little antiquated in style. Hearn is such an engaging writer, so curious and open and charmed by everything he encounters, that the book is a pleasure to read. I lived for over four years in Japan, and found Hearn accurate and informative. Love his ghost stories, too.
August 1, 2017
It's really a three and a half. His descriptions of the shrines and deities of Japan brought them alive, but I did get a little tired by the end.
What swung me over to a four was that I was really sick while I was reading it, and apparently there is a God of Really Bad Colds. I can relate.
What swung me over to a four was that I was really sick while I was reading it, and apparently there is a God of Really Bad Colds. I can relate.
October 8, 2014
Not what I expected from this book. A lot of emphasis on the role of religion and visiting different temples. Would have liked to know what everyday life was like instead.
November 2, 2025
The book is really two books in one, with the first half being about his experience when he first arrived to when he moved to Matsue and the experiences around the area that followed. The second part is a collection of some of his writings, and although still grounded within the vicinity of Matsue, are less travel writing (though there is fair share of it, with the chapter Hōki to Oki being the exemplary case), than his thoughts about Japan and Japanese culture in the late 19th Century, a few decades after the Meiji Restoration.
Hearn provides us with a record of a past long gone, and an insight into the world of 19th Century Japan. He is a fine writer, and highly descriptive of things that he pay attention to. From the types and sounds of the semi (Cicadas), to his journey around the cliffs and headlands, to his attendance at a market festival and his trip to Oki, everything is described in wonderful detail. One would feel as if they were in that time and space, and a testimony to his absorbing his writing is.
It was also somehow surreal to see someone write about Japan before modernity overtook the entire island, before the rise of fascism, the road to war, defeat and subsequent resurrection from the devastation. This is especially so in his praise of his students being willing to lay down their lives for the Emperor - shades of things to come in away that Hearn would not have approved.
He was definitely a bit of a Japanophile, taken by his newfound home, and being I think somewhat overly generous in his characterisation of the Japanese people. That said, I don’t think he is actually guilty of Orientalism (in the sense of Edward Said’s use of the term). Rather he is quite progressive for his time, being able to admit the faults and differences of where he came from (the Occidental comes up quite a bit) and being able to appreciate where the so-called Orient does better and on its own terms, and not reduce it to the caricature of how noble the Orient is et al. Indeed his castigation of foreigners being high-handed and arrogant in their interactions with the Japanese in that chapter “The Japanese Smile” made me forget momentarily that was someone originally of the West. That said I do think he was very taken by Japanese culture and the people, and thus have a tendency to underplay or overlook the issues that existed.
But while that aspect does run through the book, it does not detract from how engrossing his writing is. I can still see how relevant the book and themes are to modern Japan in 2025, particularly in terms of the cultural aspects that he wrote about (the chapter “Ghost and Goblins” where he covered a haunted house and the night market could easily be encountered in modern day Japan).
All in all, I felt it was a terrific read, though the length of time I took to do so may suggest otherwise. I happen to be reading a few books at this time when I started on it. I basically covered 2/3s of the book within the last one week. Highly recommended to anyone with an interest in the culture, geography and history of Japan.
Hearn provides us with a record of a past long gone, and an insight into the world of 19th Century Japan. He is a fine writer, and highly descriptive of things that he pay attention to. From the types and sounds of the semi (Cicadas), to his journey around the cliffs and headlands, to his attendance at a market festival and his trip to Oki, everything is described in wonderful detail. One would feel as if they were in that time and space, and a testimony to his absorbing his writing is.
It was also somehow surreal to see someone write about Japan before modernity overtook the entire island, before the rise of fascism, the road to war, defeat and subsequent resurrection from the devastation. This is especially so in his praise of his students being willing to lay down their lives for the Emperor - shades of things to come in away that Hearn would not have approved.
He was definitely a bit of a Japanophile, taken by his newfound home, and being I think somewhat overly generous in his characterisation of the Japanese people. That said, I don’t think he is actually guilty of Orientalism (in the sense of Edward Said’s use of the term). Rather he is quite progressive for his time, being able to admit the faults and differences of where he came from (the Occidental comes up quite a bit) and being able to appreciate where the so-called Orient does better and on its own terms, and not reduce it to the caricature of how noble the Orient is et al. Indeed his castigation of foreigners being high-handed and arrogant in their interactions with the Japanese in that chapter “The Japanese Smile” made me forget momentarily that was someone originally of the West. That said I do think he was very taken by Japanese culture and the people, and thus have a tendency to underplay or overlook the issues that existed.
But while that aspect does run through the book, it does not detract from how engrossing his writing is. I can still see how relevant the book and themes are to modern Japan in 2025, particularly in terms of the cultural aspects that he wrote about (the chapter “Ghost and Goblins” where he covered a haunted house and the night market could easily be encountered in modern day Japan).
All in all, I felt it was a terrific read, though the length of time I took to do so may suggest otherwise. I happen to be reading a few books at this time when I started on it. I basically covered 2/3s of the book within the last one week. Highly recommended to anyone with an interest in the culture, geography and history of Japan.
June 5, 2024
Lafcadio Hearn is a fascinating figure to me. I first knew him as the collector and translator of traditional Japanese ghost stories from Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things (1904). Three of his stories were adapted by Masaki Kobayashi in his impressive 1964 film Kwaidan. Then it came to my attention that he was one of the early “explainers” of Japanese culture with books like Kokoro: Hints & Echoes of Japanese Inner Life (1896), which I read out of order since it comes after this, Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan (1894), his first book. But in between, I learned that he had several careers prior to Japan living and writing about life in the US and Caribbean. I first heard about his American writings in the first episode of David Simon’s New Orleans based TV series Treme. He is quoted by the university history professor in a class. Further research revealed that Hern had been a crime reporter after immigrating to Cincinnati from England in 1869 where he became a writer for Cincinnati Daily Enquirer. It was from this experience that I read Inventing New Orleans: Writings of Lafcadio Hearn edited by S. Frederick Starr before my first visit there. From there he moved to New Orleans where he lived for nearly a decade, which was followed by two years in Martinique (where he wrote two books) before landing in Japan.
The edition of Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan from Tuttle Classics that I read is said to have included two volumes in one. It includes a variety of essays ranging from personal experiences (“My First Day in the Orient,” “From the Diary of an English Teacher”) to travel (“A Pilgrimage to Enoshima,” “Kitzuki: The Most Ancient Shrine in Japan,” “In the Cave of Children’s Ghosts,” “At Minoseki,” “At Hinomisaki,” and “From Hoki too Oki.”) and explanations of aspects of Japanese culture (“The Writing of Kobodaishi,” “Jizo,” “Bon-Odori,” “Shinju,” “Kitsune,” “Ina Japanese Garden,” “Of Women’s Hair,” “Two Strange Festivals,” “of a Dancing-Girl,” “Of Souls,” “Of Ghosts and Goblins,” and “The Japanese Smile”). Some of these descriptions and explanations seem very much out of date, however some still seem valid today. Furthermore, anyone who has read his writing on Japan can see that he is impressed and respectful of the new and different culture in the distant land where he would eventually be buried.
The edition of Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan from Tuttle Classics that I read is said to have included two volumes in one. It includes a variety of essays ranging from personal experiences (“My First Day in the Orient,” “From the Diary of an English Teacher”) to travel (“A Pilgrimage to Enoshima,” “Kitzuki: The Most Ancient Shrine in Japan,” “In the Cave of Children’s Ghosts,” “At Minoseki,” “At Hinomisaki,” and “From Hoki too Oki.”) and explanations of aspects of Japanese culture (“The Writing of Kobodaishi,” “Jizo,” “Bon-Odori,” “Shinju,” “Kitsune,” “Ina Japanese Garden,” “Of Women’s Hair,” “Two Strange Festivals,” “of a Dancing-Girl,” “Of Souls,” “Of Ghosts and Goblins,” and “The Japanese Smile”). Some of these descriptions and explanations seem very much out of date, however some still seem valid today. Furthermore, anyone who has read his writing on Japan can see that he is impressed and respectful of the new and different culture in the distant land where he would eventually be buried.
July 23, 2021
Lyrical and I enjoyed it a lot. I have been studying Japan for several years now in preparation to go and spend some extended time on Kyushu. This book come at the POV of experiencing Japan like a newcomer and trying to capture the first impressions and what is striking.
December 1, 2020
I enjoyed this book. It took some getting used to. It is in no hurry to describe Japan culture.
When I finally decided to sit back and enjoy to descriptions, it was a pleasure.
When I finally decided to sit back and enjoy to descriptions, it was a pleasure.
January 29, 2021
A Western outsider view of Japanese culture, widely-ranging and vividly portrayed. Of great interest to anyone wishing to observe Japan before the arrival of the modern era.
July 13, 2023
An absolutely amazing look at aJapanese way of life that was fading already at the time was fading away.
August 15, 2016
Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan (Paperback)
by Lafcadio Hearn 4/5
by Lafcadio Hearn 4/5
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