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Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan

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First published: 1894
Pages: 308

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About this book

Lafcadio Hearn arrived in Japan in 1890 as a newspaper correspondent and never left. These sketches, gathered from his first three years there, record a country he approached with a stranger's eye and a convert's affection: temple courtyards at dawn, village festivals, household shrines, the small courtesies of shopkeepers in Matsue, the folk beliefs that went on quietly beneath official religion. He wrote before rapid Westernization had reshaped daily life, and part of the book's value now is simply that he was present to see it. Readers still argue over his romanticism, since he wanted the old Japan preserved more fiercely than many Japanese did, but the wonder in the prose is genuine and the reporting is close and patient. Read the complete 1894 collection here as a free PDF and EPUB.

About the author

Lafcadio Hearn

Lafcadio Hearn (1850-1904) was born in Greece to Irish and Greek parents, worked as a journalist in Cincinnati and New Orleans, then moved to Japan in 1890. He married Koizumi Setsu, took Japanese citizenship, and wrote a shelf of books interpreting the country for Western readers.