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, born Patrick Lafcadio Hearn (; el, Πατρίκιος Λευκάδιος Χέρν, Patríkios Lefkádios Chérn,
Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
: Pádraig Lafcadio O'hEarain), was an
Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
-
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
-
Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...
writer, translator, and teacher who introduced the culture and literature of Japan to the
West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...
. His writings offered unprecedented insight into Japanese culture, especially his collections of
legends A legend is a historical narrative, a symbolic representation of folk belief. Legend(s) or The Legend(s) may also refer to: Narrative * Urban legend, a widely repeated story of dubious truth * A fictitious identity used in espionage Books, co ...
and
ghost stories A ghost story is any piece of fiction, or drama, that includes a ghost, or simply takes as a premise the possibility of ghosts or characters' belief in them."Ghost Stories" in Margaret Drabble (ed.), ''Oxford Companion to English Literature''. ...
, such as '' Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things''. Before moving to Japan and becoming a Japanese citizen, he worked as a journalist in the United States, primarily in
Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
and
New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
. His writings about
New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
, based on his decade-long stay there, are also well-known. Hearn was born on the Greek island of
Lefkada Lefkada ( el, Λευκάδα, ''Lefkáda'', ), also known as Lefkas or Leukas ( Ancient Greek and Katharevousa: Λευκάς, ''Leukás'', modern pronunciation ''Lefkás'') and Leucadia, is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea on the west coast of G ...
, after which a complex series of conflicts and events led to his being moved to
Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...
, where he was abandoned first by his mother, then his father, and finally by his father's aunt (who had been appointed his official guardian). At the age of 19, he emigrated to the United States, where he found work as a newspaper reporter, first in
Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
and later in New Orleans. From there, he was sent as a correspondent to the French West Indies, where he stayed for two years, and then to Japan, where he would remain for the rest of his life. In Japan, Hearn married a Japanese woman with whom he had four children. His writings about Japan offered the Western world a glimpse into a largely unknown but fascinating culture at the time.


Biography


Early life

Patrick Lafcadio Hearn was born on the
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
Ionian Island of
Lefkada Lefkada ( el, Λευκάδα, ''Lefkáda'', ), also known as Lefkas or Leukas ( Ancient Greek and Katharevousa: Λευκάς, ''Leukás'', modern pronunciation ''Lefkás'') and Leucadia, is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea on the west coast of G ...
on 27 June 1850, His mother was a
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
named Rosa Cassimati and she was a native of the Greek island of
Kythira Kythira (, ; el, Κύθηρα, , also transliterated as Cythera, Kythera and Kithira) is an island in Greece lying opposite the south-eastern tip of the Peloponnese peninsula. It is traditionally listed as one of the seven main Ionian Islands ...
, while his father was a
British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
officer of either
Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
or mixed
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
-
Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
descent, who was stationed in Lefkada during the British protectorate of the
United States of the Ionian Islands The United States of the Ionian Islands ( el, Ἡνωμένον Κράτος τῶν Ἰονίων Νήσων, Inoménon-Krátos ton Ioníon Níson, United State of the Ionian Islands; it, Stati Uniti delle Isole Ionie) was a Greek state and a ...
. Throughout his life, Lafcadio boasted of his Greek blood and had a passionate leaning towards
Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...
. He was baptized Patrikios Lefcadios Hearn (
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
: Πατρίκιος Λευκάδιος Χερν) in the
Greek Orthodox Church The term Greek Orthodox Church ( Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the entire body of Orthodox (Chalcedonian) Christianity, sometimes also cal ...
, but he seems to have been called "Patrick Lefcadio Kassimati Charles Hearn" in English; and, the middle name "Lafcadio" was given to him in honour of the island where he was born.According to one of his biographers, a family Bible records 'Patricio Lafcadio Tessima Carlos Hearn, August 1850.' Hearn's parents were married in a Greek Orthodox ceremony on 25 November 1849, several months after his mother had given birth to Hearn's older brother, George Robert Hearn, on 24 July 1849. George died on 17 August 1850, two months after Lafcadio's birth.


Emigration to Ireland and abandonment

Hearn's father Charles was promoted to Staff Surgeon Second Class and in 1850 was reassigned from Lefkada to the
British West Indies The British West Indies (BWI) were colonized British territories in the West Indies: Anguilla, the Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands, Montserrat, the British Virgin Islands, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Grena ...
. Since his family did not approve of the marriage, and because he was worried that his relationship might harm his career prospects, Charles did not inform his superiors of his son or pregnant wife and left his family behind. In 1852, he arranged to send his son and wife to live with his family in
Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...
, where they received a cool reception. Hearn's Protestant mother, Elizabeth Holmes Hearn, had difficulty accepting Rosa's Greek Orthodox views and lack of education (she was illiterate and spoke no English). Rosa found it difficult to adapt to a foreign culture and the Protestantism of her husband's family, and was eventually taken under the wing of Elizabeth's sister, Sarah Holmes Brenane, a widow who had converted to Catholicism. Despite Sarah's efforts, Rosa suffered from homesickness. When her husband returned to Ireland on medical leave in 1853, it became clear that the couple had become estranged. Charles Hearn was assigned to the
Crimean Peninsula Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...
, again leaving his pregnant wife and child in Ireland. When he came back in 1856, severely wounded and traumatized, Rosa had returned to her home island of Cerigo in Greece, where she gave birth to their third son, Daniel James Hearn. Lafcadio had been left in the care of Sarah Brenane. Charles petitioned to have the marriage with Rosa annulled, on the basis of her lack of signature on the marriage contract, which made it invalid under English law. After being informed of the annulment, Rosa almost immediately married Giovanni Cavallini, a Greek citizen of Italian ancestry who was later appointed by the British as governor of Cerigotto. Cavallini required as a condition of the marriage that Rosa give up custody of both Lafcadio and James. As a result, James was sent to his father in Dublin and Lafcadio remained in the care of Sarah, who had disinherited Charles because of the annulment. Neither Lafcadio nor James saw their mother again, who had four children with her second husband. Rosa was eventually committed to the National Mental Asylum on Corfu, where she died in 1882. Charles Hearn, who had left Lafcadio in the care of Sarah Brenane for the past four years, now appointed her as Lafcadio's permanent guardian. He married his childhood sweetheart, Alicia Goslin, in July 1857, and left with his new wife for a posting in Secunderabad, where they had three daughters prior to Alicia's death in 1861. Lafcadio never saw his father again: Charles Hearn died of malaria in the
Gulf of Suez The Gulf of Suez ( ar, خليج السويس, khalīǧ as-suwais; formerly , ', "Sea of Calm") is a gulf at the northern end of the Red Sea, to the west of the Sinai Peninsula. Situated to the east of the Sinai Peninsula is the smaller Gulf of ...
in 1866. In 1857, at age seven and despite the fact that both his parents were still alive, Hearn became the permanent ward of his great aunt, Sarah Brenane. She divided her residency between Dublin in the winter months, her husband's estate at
Tramore Tramore (; ) is a seaside town in County Waterford, on the southeast coast of Ireland. With humble origins as a small fishing village, the area saw rapid development upon the arrival of the railway from Waterford City in 1853. Initially, the ...
, County Waterford, on the southern Irish coast, and a house at Bangor, North Wales. Brenane also engaged a tutor during the school year to provide basic instruction and the rudiments of Catholic dogma. Hearn began exploring Brenane's library and read extensively in Greek literature, especially myths.


Catholic education and more abandonment

In 1861, Hearn's aunt, aware that Hearn was turning away from Catholicism, and at the urging of Henry Hearn Molyneux, a relative of her late husband and a distant cousin of Hearn, enrolled him at the ''Institution Ecclésiastique'', a Catholic church school in
Yvetot Yvetot () is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in northern France. It is the capital of the Caux region. History The name Yvetot comes from the Germanic ''Yvo'' and the Old Norse ''-topt''. Therefore, Yvetot mean ...
, France. Hearn's experiences at the school confirmed his lifelong conviction that Catholic education consisted of "conventional dreariness and ugliness and dirty austerities and long faces and Jesuitry and infamous distortion of children's brains." Hearn became fluent in French and would later translate into English the works of
Guy de Maupassant Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant (, ; ; 5 August 1850 – 6 July 1893) was a 19th-century French author, remembered as a master of the short story form, as well as a representative of the Naturalist school, who depicted human lives, destin ...
and
Gustave Flaubert Gustave Flaubert ( , , ; 12 December 1821 – 8 May 1880) was a French novelist. Highly influential, he has been considered the leading exponent of literary realism in his country. According to the literary theorist Kornelije Kvas, "in Flauber ...
. In 1863, again at the suggestion of Molyneux, Hearn was enrolled at St. Cuthbert's College, Ushaw, a Catholic
seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy ...
at what is now the
University of Durham Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by royal charte ...
. In this environment, Hearn adopted the nickname "Paddy" to try to fit in better, and was the top student in English composition for three years. At age 16, while at Ushaw, Hearn injured his left eye in a schoolyard mishap. The eye became infected and, despite consultations with specialists in Dublin and London, and a year spent out of school convalescing, went blind. Hearn also suffered from severe myopia, so his injury left him permanently with poor vision, requiring him to carry a magnifying glass for close work and a pocket telescope to see anything beyond a short distance (Hearn avoided eyeglasses, believing they would gradually weaken his vision further). The iris was permanently discolored, and left Hearn self-conscious about his appearance for the rest of his life, causing him to cover his left eye while conversing and always posing for the camera in profile so that the left eye was not visible. In 1867, Henry Molyneux, who had become Sarah Brenane's financial manager, went bankrupt, along with Brenane. There was no money for tuition, and Hearn was sent to London's East End to live with Brenane's former maid. She and her husband had little time or money for Hearn, who wandered the streets, spent time in workhouses, and generally lived an aimless, rootless existence. His main intellectual activities consisted of visits to libraries and the
British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
.


Emigration to Cincinnati

By 1869, Henry Molyneux had recovered some financial stability and Brenane, now 75, was infirm. Resolving to end his expenditures on the 19-year-old Hearn, he purchased a one-way ticket to New York and instructed Hearn to find his way to
Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
, to locate Molyneux's sister and her husband, Thomas Cullinan, and to obtain their assistance in making a living. Upon meeting Hearn in Cincinnati, the family had little assistance to offer: Cullinan gave him $5 and wished him luck in seeking his fortune. As Hearn would later write, "I was dropped moneyless on the pavement of an American city to begin life." For a time, he was impoverished, living in stables or store rooms in exchange for menial labor. He eventually befriended the English printer and communalist Henry Watkin, who employed him in his printing business, helped find him various odd jobs, lent him books from his library, including utopianists Fourier, Dixon and Noyes, and gave Hearn a nickname which stuck with him for the rest of his life,
The Raven "The Raven" is a narrative poem by American writer Edgar Allan Poe. First published in January 1845, the poem is often noted for its musicality, stylized language, and supernatural atmosphere. It tells of a distraught lover who is paid a myst ...
, from the Poe poem. Hearn also frequented the Cincinnati Public Library, which at that time had an estimated 50,000 volumes. In the spring of 1871 a letter from Henry Molyneux informed him of Sarah Brenane's death and Molyneux's appointment as sole executor. Despite Brenane having named him as the beneficiary of an annuity when she became his guardian, Hearn received nothing from the estate and never heard from Molyneux again.


Newspaper and literary work

By the strength of his talent as a writer, Hearn obtained a job as a reporter for the '' Cincinnati Daily Enquirer'', working for the newspaper from 1872 to 1875. Writing with creative freedom in one of Cincinnati's largest circulating newspapers, he became known for his lurid accounts of local murders, developing a reputation as the paper's premier sensational journalist, as well as the author of sensitive accounts of some of the disadvantaged people of Cincinnati. '' The Library of America'' selected one of these murder accounts, ''Gibbeted,'' for inclusion in its two-century retrospective of ''American True Crime'', published in 2008. After one of his murder stories, the Tanyard Murder, had run for several months in 1874, Hearn established his reputation as Cincinnati's most audacious journalist, and the ''Enquirer'' raised his salary from $10 to $25 per week. In 1874, Hearn and the young Henry Farny, later a renowned painter of the American West, wrote, illustrated, and published an 8-page weekly journal of art, literature and satire entitled ''Ye Giglampz.'' The Cincinnati Public Library reprinted a facsimile of all nine issues in 1983. The work was considered by a twentieth century critic to be "Perhaps the most fascinating sustained project he undertook as an editor."


Marriage and firing by the ''Enquirer''

On 14 June 1874, Hearn, aged 23, married Alethea ("Mattie") Foley, a 20-year-old African American woman, and former slave, an action in violation of Ohio's anti-miscegenation law at that time. In August 1875, in response to complaints from a local clergyman about his anti-religious views and pressure from local politicians embarrassed by some of his satirical writing in ''Ye Giglampz,'' the ''Enquirer'' fired him, citing as its reason his illegal marriage. He went to work for the rival newspaper ''The Cincinnati Commercial.'' The ''Enquirer'' offered to re-hire him after his stories began appearing in the ''Commercial'' and its circulation began increasing, but Hearn, incensed at the paper's behavior, refused. Hearn and Foley separated, but attempted reconciliation several times before divorcing in 1877. Foley remarried in 1880. While working for the ''Commercial'' he championed the case of Henrietta Wood, a former slave who won a major reparations case. While working for the ''Commercial'' Hearn agreed to be carried to the top of Cincinnati's tallest building on the back of a famous
steeplejack A steeplejack is a craftsman who scales buildings, chimneys, and church steeples to carry out repairs or maintenance. Steeplejacks erect ladders on church spires, industrial chimneys, cooling towers, bell towers, clock towers, or any other hi ...
, Joseph Roderiguez Weston, and wrote a half-terrified, half-comic account of the experience. It was also during this time that Hearn wrote a series of accounts of the Bucktown and Levee neighborhoods of Cincinnati, "...one of the few depictions we have of black life in a border city during the post-Civil War period." He also wrote about local black song lyrics from the era, including a song titled "Shiloh" that was dedicated to a Bucktown resident named "Limber Jim." In addition, Hearn had printed in the ''Commercial'' a stanza he had overheard when listening to the songs of the
roustabout Roustabout (Australia/New Zealand English: rouseabout) is an occupational term. Traditionally, it referred to a worker with broad-based, non-specific skills. In particular, it was used to describe show or circus workers who handled materials ...
s, working on the city's levee waterfront. Similar stanzas were recorded in song by
Julius Daniels Julius Daniels (November 20, 1901 – October 18, 1947) was an American Piedmont blues musician. His song "99 Year Blues" appeared on the box set ''Anthology of American Folk Music'' and has been covered by Jim Kweskin, Chris Smither, Johnny Winte ...
in 1926 and
Tommy McClennan Tommy McClennan (January 4, 1905 – May 9, 1961) was an American Delta blues singer and guitarist. Life and career McClennan was born in Durant, Mississippi, and grew up in the town. He played and sang blues in a rough, energetic style. H ...
in his version of " Bottle Up and Go" (1939).


Move to New Orleans

During the autumn of 1877, recently divorced from Mattie Foley and restless, Hearn had begun neglecting his newspaper work in favor of translating into English works of the French author Gautier. He had also grown increasingly disenchanted with Cincinnati, writing to Henry Watkin, "It is time for a fellow to get out of Cincinnati when they begin to call it the Paris of America." With the support of Watkin and ''Cincinnati Commercial'' publisher Murat Halstead, Hearn left Cincinnati for
New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
, where he initially wrote dispatches on the "Gateway to the Tropics" for the ''Commercial''. Hearn lived in New Orleans for nearly a decade, writing first for the newspaper ''Daily City Item'' beginning in June 1878, and later for the ''Times Democrat''. Since the ''Item'' was a 4-page publication, Hearn's editorial work changed the character of the newspaper dramatically. He began at the ''Item'' as a news editor, expanding to include book reviews of
Bret Harte Bret Harte (; born Francis Brett Hart; August 25, 1836 – May 5, 1902) was an American short story writer and poet best remembered for short fiction featuring miners, gamblers, and other romantic figures of the California Gold Rush. In a caree ...
and
Émile Zola Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (, also , ; 2 April 184029 September 1902) was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of naturalism, and an important contributor to the development of ...
, summaries of pieces in national magazines such as '' Harper's'', and editorial pieces introducing Buddhism and Sanskrit writings. As editor, Hearn created and published nearly two hundred woodcuts of daily life and people in New Orleans, making the ''Item'' the first Southern newspaper to introduce cartoons and giving the paper an immediate boost in circulation. Hearn gave up carving the woodcuts after six months when he found the strain was too great for his eye. At the end of 1881, Hearn took an editorial position with the New Orleans '' Times Democrat'' and was employed translating items from French and Spanish newspapers as well as writing editorials and cultural reviews on topics of his choice. He also continued his work translating French authors into English:
Gérard de Nerval Gérard de Nerval (; 22 May 1808 – 26 January 1855) was the pen name of the French writer, poet, and translator Gérard Labrunie, a major figure of French romanticism, best known for his novellas and poems, especially the collection '' Les ...
,
Anatole France (; born , ; 16 April 1844 – 12 October 1924) was a French poet, journalist, and novelist with several best-sellers. Ironic and skeptical, he was considered in his day the ideal French man of letters. He was a member of the Académie França ...
, and most notably
Pierre Loti Pierre Loti (; pseudonym of Louis Marie-Julien Viaud ; 14 January 1850 – 10 June 1923) was a French naval officer and novelist, known for his exotic novels and short stories.This article is derived largely from the ''Encyclopædia Britannica El ...
, an author who influenced Hearn's own writing style. Milton Bronner, who edited Hearn's letters to Henry Watkin, wrote: " e Hearn of New Orleans was the father of the Hearn of the West Indies and of Japan," and this view was endorsed by Norman Foerster. During his tenure at the ''Times Democrat'', Hearn also developed a friendship with editor Page Baker, who went on to champion Hearn's literary career; their correspondence is archived at the Loyola University New Orleans Special Collections & Archives. The vast number of his writings about New Orleans and its environs, many of which have not been collected, include the city's Creole population and distinctive cuisine, the French Opera, and
Louisiana Voodoo Louisiana Voodoo (french: Vaudou louisianais, es, Vudú de Luisiana), also known as New Orleans Voodoo, is an African diasporic religion which originated in Louisiana, now in the southern United States. It arose through a process of syncreti ...
. Hearn wrote enthusiastically of New Orleans, but also wrote of the city's decay, "a dead bride crowned with orange flowers". Hearn's writings for national publications, such as ''
Harper's Weekly ''Harper's Weekly, A Journal of Civilization'' was an American political magazine based in New York City. Published by Harper & Brothers from 1857 until 1916, it featured foreign and domestic news, fiction, essays on many subjects, and humor, ...
'' and ''
Scribner's Magazine ''Scribner's Magazine'' was an American periodical published by the publishing house of Charles Scribner's Sons from January 1887 to May 1939. ''Scribner's Magazine'' was the second magazine out of the Scribner's firm, after the publication of ' ...
'', helped create the popular reputation of New Orleans as a place with a distinctive culture more akin to that of Europe and the Caribbean than to the rest of North America. Hearn's best-known Louisiana works include: * ''Gombo zhèbes: Little dictionary of Creole proverbs'' (1885) * ''La Cuisine Créole'' (1885), a collection of culinary recipes from leading chefs and noted Creole housewives who helped make New Orleans famous for its cuisine * ''Chita: A Memory of Last Island'' (1889), a novella based on the hurricane of 1856 first published in ''
Harper's Monthly ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. (''Scientific American'' is older, b ...
'' in 1888 Hearn also published in ''
Harper's Weekly ''Harper's Weekly, A Journal of Civilization'' was an American political magazine based in New York City. Published by Harper & Brothers from 1857 until 1916, it featured foreign and domestic news, fiction, essays on many subjects, and humor, ...
'' the first known written article (1883) about Filipinos in the United States, the Manilamen or
Tagalogs The Tagalog people ( tl, Mga Tagalog; Baybayin: ᜋᜅ ᜆᜄᜎᜓᜄ᜔) are the largest ethnolinguistic group in the Philippines, numbering at around 30 million. An Austronesian people, the Tagalog have a well developed society due to their ...
, one of whose villages he had visited at
Saint Malo Saint-Malo (, , ; Gallo: ; ) is a historic French port in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany, on the English Channel coast. The walled city had a long history of piracy, earning much wealth from local extortion and overseas adventures. In 1944, the Alli ...
, southeast of
Lake Borgne Lake Borgne (french: Lac Borgne, es, Lago Borgne) is a lagoon of the Gulf of Mexico in southeastern Louisiana. Although early maps show it as a lake surrounded by land, coastal erosion has made it an arm of the Gulf of Mexico. Its name comes fro ...
in
St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana St. Bernard Parish (french: Paroisse de Saint-Bernard; es, Parroquia de San Bernardo) is a parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat and largest community is Chalmette. The parish was formed in 1807. St. Bernard Parish is part of t ...
. At the time he lived there, Hearn was little known, and even now he is little known for his writing about New Orleans, except by local cultural devotees. However, more books have been written about him than any former resident of New Orleans except Louis Armstrong. Hearn's writings for the New Orleans newspapers included impressionistic descriptions of places and characters and many editorials denouncing political corruption, street crime, violence, intolerance, and the failures of public health and hygiene officials. Despite the fact that he is credited with "inventing" New Orleans as an exotic and mysterious place, his obituaries of the vodou leaders
Marie Laveau Marie Catherine Laveau (September 10, 1801 – June 15, 1881)''Marie Laveau The Mysterious Voodoo Queen: A Study of Powerful Female Leadership in Nineteenth-Century New Orleans'' by Ina Johanna Fandrich was a Louisiana Creole practitioner of ...
and Doctor John Montenet are matter-of-fact and debunking. Selections of Hearn's New Orleans writings have been collected and published in several works, starting with ''Creole Sketches'' in 1924, and more recently in ''Inventing New Orleans: Writings of Lafcadio Hearn.''


Move to the French West Indies

'' Harper's'' sent Hearn to the
West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...
as a correspondent in 1887. He spent two years in
Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in ...
and in addition to his writings for the magazine, produced two books: ''Two Years in the French West Indies'' and ''Youma, The Story of a West-Indian Slave'', both published in 1890.


Later life in Japan

In 1890, Hearn went to Japan with a commission as a newspaper correspondent, which was quickly terminated. It was in Japan, however, that he found a home and his greatest inspiration. Through the good will of Basil Hall Chamberlain, Hearn gained a teaching position during the summer of 1890 at the Shimane Prefectural Common Middle School and Normal School in
Matsue is the capital city of Shimane Prefecture, Japan, located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. The city has an estimated population of 202,008 (February 1, 2021) following the merger with Higashiizumo from Yatsuka District. Matsue is located ...
, a town in western Japan on the coast of the
Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, i ...
. During his fifteen-month stay in Matsue, Hearn married Koizumi Setsuko, the daughter of a local
samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...
family, with whom he had four children: Kazuo, Iwao, Kiyoshi, and Suzuko. He became a Japanese citizen, assuming the legal name Koizumi Yakumo in 1896 after accepting a teaching position in Tokyo; Koizumi is his wife's surname and Yakumo is from ''yakumotatsu'', a poetic modifier word (''
makurakotoba are figures of speech used in Japanese poetry in association with certain words. The set phrase can be thought of as a "pillow" for the noun or verb it describes, although the actual etymology is not fully known. It can also describe associatio ...
'') for Izumo Province, which he translated as "the Place of the Issuing of Clouds". After having been Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and, later on, Spencerian, he became Buddhist. During late 1891, Hearn obtained another teaching position in
Kumamoto is the capital city of Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 738,907 and a population density of 1,893 people per km2. The total area is 390.32 km2. had a population of 1,461,000, ...
, at the Fifth High Middle School (a predecessor of
Kumamoto University , abbreviated to ''Kumadai'' (熊大), is a Japanese national university located in Kumamoto, Kumamoto Prefecture in the Kyushu region of Japan. It was established on May 31, 1949, at which time the following institutions were subsumed into it; ...
), where he spent the next three years and completed his book '' Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan'' (1894). In October 1894, he secured a journalism job with the English-language newspaper ''Kobe Chronicle'', and in 1896, with some assistance from Chamberlain, he began teaching English literature at
Tokyo Imperial University , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...
, a job he had until 1903. In 1904, he was a lecturer at
Waseda University , mottoeng = Independence of scholarship , established = 21 October 1882 , type = Private , endowment = , president = Aiji Tanaka , city = Shinjuku , state = Tokyo , country = Japan , students = 47,959 , undergrad = 39,382 , postgrad ...
. While in Japan, he encountered the art of ju-jutsu which made a deep impression upon him: "Hearn, who encountered judo in Japan at the end of the nineteenth century, contemplated its concepts with the awed tones of an explorer staring about him in an extraordinary and undiscovered land. "What Western brain could have elaborated this strange teaching, never to oppose force by force, but only direct and utilize the power of attack; to overthrow the enemy solely through his own strength, to vanquish him solely by his own efforts? Surely none! The Western mind appears to work in straight lines; the Oriental, in wonderful curves and circles." When he was teaching at the Fifth High Middle School, the headmaster was founder of Judo
Kano Jigoro Kano may refer to: Places *Kano State, a state in Northern Nigeria *Kano (city), a city in Nigeria, and the capital of Kano State **Kingdom of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between the 10th and 14th centuries ** Sultanate of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between ...
himself. On 26 September 1904, Hearn died of heart failure in
Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...
at the age of 54. His grave is at the
Zōshigaya Cemetery is a public cemetery in Minami-Ikebukuro, Toshima, Tokyo, founded by the Tokyo Metropolitan government. The cemetery is nonsectarian, and contains the graves of many famous people in its 10  ha area. It is maintained by the Tokyo Metropolita ...
in Tokyo's
Toshima is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is one of the eight central wards of the Tokyo Metropolitan area. Located in the northern area of Tokyo, Toshima is bordered by the wards of Nerima, Itabashi, and Kita in the north and Nakano, Shinjuku ...
district.


Legacy


Literary tradition

In the late 19th century, Japan was still largely unknown and exotic to Westerners. However, with the introduction of Japanese aesthetics, particularly at the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1900, Japanese styles became fashionable in Western countries. Consequently, Hearn became known to the world by his writings concerning Japan. In later years, some critics would accuse Hearn of exoticizing Japan, but because he offered the West some of its first descriptions of pre-industrial and Meiji Era Japan, his work is generally regarded as having historical value. Admirers of Hearn's work have included Ben Hecht, John Erskine,
Malcolm Cowley Malcolm Cowley (August 24, 1898 – March 27, 1989) was an American writer, editor, historian, poet, and literary critic. His best known works include his first book of poetry, ''Blue Juniata'' (1929), his lyrical memoir, ''Exile's Return ...
and
Jorge Luis Borges Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo (; ; 24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986) was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator, as well as a key figure in Spanish-language and international literature. His best-known b ...
. Hearn was a major translator of the short stories of
Guy de Maupassant Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant (, ; ; 5 August 1850 – 6 July 1893) was a 19th-century French author, remembered as a master of the short story form, as well as a representative of the Naturalist school, who depicted human lives, destin ...
..
Yone Noguchi was an influential Japanese writer of poetry, fiction, essays and literary criticism in both English and Japanese. He is known in the west as Yone Noguchi. He was the father of noted sculptor Isamu Noguchi. Biography Early life in Japan Nog ...
is quoted as saying about Hearn, "His Greek temperament and French culture became frost-bitten as a flower in the North." Hearn won a wide following in Japan, where his books were translated and remain popular to the present day. Hearn's appeal to Japanese readers "lies in the glimpses he offered of an older, more mystical Japan lost during the country’s hectic plunge into Western-style industrialization and nation building. His books are treasured here as a trove of legends and folk tales that otherwise might have vanished because no Japanese had bothered to record them."


Museums

The Lafcadio Hearn Memorial Museum and his old residence in Matsue are still two of the city's most popular tourist attractions. In addition, another small museum dedicated to Hearn opened in
Yaizu is a city located in central Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 139,578 in 57,593 households, and a population density of 2000 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . Yaizu is a noted port for commer ...
, Shizuoka, in 2007 ( :ja:焼津小泉八雲記念館). The first museum in Europe for Lafcadio Hearn was inaugurated in Lefkada, Greece, his birthplace, on 4 July 2014, as Lefcadio Hearn Historical Center. It contains early editions, rare books and Japanese collectibles. The visitors, through photos, texts and exhibits, can wander in the significant events of Lafcadio Hearn's life, but also in the civilizations of Europe, America and Japan of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries through his lectures, writings and tales. The municipalities of
Kumamoto is the capital city of Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 738,907 and a population density of 1,893 people per km2. The total area is 390.32 km2. had a population of 1,461,000, ...
, Matsue, Shinjuku, Yaizu,
Toyama University The is a Japanese national university in Toyama Prefecture established in 1949. The University of Toyama has three campuses, namely the Gofuku, Sugitani, and Takaoka campuses. The University of Toyama, Sugitani campus is the home to Institute ...
, the Koizumi family and other people from Japan and Greece contributed to the establishment of Lefcadio Hearn Historical Center. On a trip to Matsue in 2012, Professor Bon Koizumi (Hearn's great-grandson) and his wife Shoko were introduced by keen supporters of Lafcadio to Dublin-based Motoko Fujita, a published photographer of The Shadow of James Joyce (Lilliput Press Ltd., Ireland, 2011) and the founder of the Experience Japan Festival in Dublin. Acting on the Koizumi's desire to reconnect with their Irish roots, Fujita then coordinated a trip for Bon and Shoko in autumn 2013, during which key relationships to more Lafcadio supporters in Ireland were forged. Fujita's initiative led to the exhibition ''Coming Home: The Open Mind of Patrick Lafcadio Hearn'' at The Little Museum of Dublin (15 October 2015 to 3 January 2016), the first time Hearn was honoured in the city. The exhibit contained first editions of Hearn's works and personal items from the Lafcadio Hearn Memorial Museum. Professor Bon Koizumi was in attendance at the opening of the exhibition. Fujita also initiated the planning of a Japanese garden in Hearn's honour, and in 2015 the Lafcadio Hearn Japanese Gardens in Tramore, Co. Waterford opened. There is also a cultural centre named after Hearn at the
University of Durham Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by royal charte ...
, where in 2022 a conference ''Lafcadio Hearn and the Global Imagination at the Fin de Siècle'' was held.


Sister cities

His life journey later connected its both ends; Lefkada and Shinjuku became
sister cities A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inter ...
in 1989. Another pair of cities he lived in, New Orleans and Matsue did the same in 1994.


Media and theater

The Japanese director
Masaki Kobayashi was a Japanese film director and screenwriter, best known for the epic trilogy ''The Human Condition'' (1959–1961), the samurai films '' Harakiri'' (1962) and '' Samurai Rebellion'' (1967), and the horror anthology ''Kwaidan'' (1964). ''Sens ...
adapted four Hearn tales into his 1964 film, ''
Kwaidan is a Japanese word consisting of two kanji: 怪 (''kai'') meaning "strange, mysterious, rare, or bewitching apparition" and 談 (''dan'') meaning "talk" or "recited narrative". Overall meaning and usage In its broadest sense, ''kaidan'' refe ...
''. Some of his stories have been adapted by Ping Chong into his puppet theatre, including the 1999 ''Kwaidan'' and the 2002 ''OBON: Tales of Moonlight and Rain''. In 1984, four episode Japanese TV series ''Nihon no omokage'' ( :ja:日本の面影, Remnants of Japan), depicting Hearn's departure from the United States and later life in Japan, was broadcast with Greek-American actor
George Chakiris George Chakiris (born September 16, 1932) is an American actor. He is best known for his appearance in the 1961 film version of ''West Side Story'' as Bernardo Nunez, the leader of the Sharks gang, for which he won both the Academy Award for Be ...
as Hearn. The story was later adapted to theatrical productions. The video game series Touhou Project is influenced by Hearn's works. This
doujin soft is software created by Japanese hobbyists or hobbyist groups (referred to as "circles"), more for fun than for profit. The term includes digital , which are essentially the Japanese equivalent of independent video games or fangames (the term " ...
series is about a fantasy world known as "Gensokyo, separated from "our" world with a magical barrier. Two of its most important characters, Yukari Yakumo and Maribel Hearn, are references to Lafcadio Hearn. Yukari is a powerful
Yōkai are a class of supernatural entities and spirits in Japanese folklore. The word is composed of the kanji for "attractive; calamity" and "apparition; mystery; suspicious." are also referred to as , or . Despite often being translated as suc ...
who helped create the border separating Gensokyo from the outside world, and Maribel Hearn is a college student who lives in Kyoto who is able to see Gensokyo in her dreams. These two characters are implied to be related or even the same person, but what their relationship is exactly is unknown. Yukari Yakumo appears in many Touhou games, books, and manga, and Maribel appears in the stories included in ZUN's music collection, a series of albums.


Works


Louisiana subjects

* ''La Cuisine Creole: A Collection of Culinary Recipes'' (1885) * ''"Gombo Zhèbes": A Little Dictionary of Creole Proverbs, Selected from Six Creole Dialects.'' (1885) * ''Chita: A Memory of Last Island'' (1889) * ''Creole Sketches'' (1878-1880; published 1924
pdf full text


West Indies subjects

* ''Youma, the Story of a West-Indian Slave'' (1889) * ''Two Years in the French West Indies'' (1890)


Japanese subjects

Source: * '' Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan'' (1894) * ''Out of the East: Reveries and Studies in New Japan'' (1895)
''Kokoro: Hints and Echoes of Japanese Inner Life'' (1896)
pdf; free full text * ''Gleanings in Buddha-Fields: Studies of Hand and Soul in the Far East'' (1897) * ''
The Boy Who Drew Cats is a Japanese fairy tale translated by Lafcadio Hearn, published in 1898, as number 23 of Hasegawa Takejirō's ''Japanese Fairy Tale Series''. It was later included in Hearn's ''Japanese Fairy Tales''. The original title in Hearn's manuscrip ...
'' (1897) * ''Exotics and Retrospectives'' (1898) * ''Japanese Fairy Tales'' (1898, and sequels) * ''In Ghostly Japan'' (1899) * ''Shadowings'' (1900) * ''Japanese Lyrics'' (1900) * ''A Japanese Miscellany'' (1901) * ''Kottō: Being Japanese Curios, with Sundry Cobwebs'' (1902) * '' Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things'' (1904) * ''Japan: An Attempt at Interpretation'' (1904) * ''The Romance of the Milky Way and other studies and stories'' (1905)


Posthumous anthologies

* ''Letters from the Raven; being the correspondence of Lafcadio Hearn with Henry Watkin'' (1907), includes ''Letters from the Raven'', ''Letters to a Lady'', ''Letters of Ozias Midwinter'' * ''Leaves from the Diary of an Impressionist'' (1911, Houghton Mifflin Company) * ''Interpretations of Literature'' (1915, Dodd, Mead and Company) * ''Appreciations of Poetry'' (London: William Heinemann, 1916). This is a selection from the lectures he delivered at the University of Tokyo between 1896-1902. * ''Karma'' (1918) * ''On Reading in Relation to Literature'' (1921, The Atlantic Monthly Press, Inc.)
''Creole Sketches'' (1924, Houghton Mifflin)
* ''Lectures on Shakespeare'' (1928, Hokuseido Press) * ''Insect-musicians and other stories and sketches'' (1929) * ''Japan's Religions: Shinto and Buddhism'' (1966) * ''Books and Habits; from the Lectures of Lafcadio Hearn'' (1968, Books for Libraries Press) * ''Writings from Japan: An Anthology'' (1984, Penguin Books) * ''Lafcadio Hearn's America: Ethnographic Sketches and Editorials'' (2002, University Press of Kentucky) * ''Lafcadio Hearn's Japan: An Anthology of His Writings on the Country and Its People'' (2007, Tuttle) * ''American Writings'' (2009, Library of America) *''Nightmare-Touch'' (2010, Tartarus Press) * ''Insect Literature'' (2015, Swan River Press; for details, see Insects in literature) * ''Japanese Ghost Stories''. Murray, Paul, ed. 2019 London: Penguin. * ''Japanese Tales of Lafcadio Hearn.'' Andrei Codrescu, ed. 2019. Princeton: Princeton University Press.


Translations

* '' One of Cleopatra's Nights and Other Fantastic Romances'' by
Théophile Gautier Pierre Jules Théophile Gautier ( , ; 30 August 1811 – 23 October 1872) was a French poet, dramatist, novelist, journalist, and art and literary critic. While an ardent defender of Romanticism, Gautier's work is difficult to classify and rema ...
(1882) * ''Tales from
Theophile Gautier Theophilus is a male given name with a range of alternative spellings. Its origin is the Greek word Θεόφιλος from θεός (God) and φιλία (love or affection) can be translated as "Love of God" or "Friend of God", i.e., it is a theoph ...
'' (1888) * ''The Crime of Sylvestre Bonnard'' by
Anatole France (; born , ; 16 April 1844 – 12 October 1924) was a French poet, journalist, and novelist with several best-sellers. Ironic and skeptical, he was considered in his day the ideal French man of letters. He was a member of the Académie França ...
(1890) * '' The Temptation of Saint Anthony'' by
Gustave Flaubert Gustave Flaubert ( , , ; 12 December 1821 – 8 May 1880) was a French novelist. Highly influential, he has been considered the leading exponent of literary realism in his country. According to the literary theorist Kornelije Kvas, "in Flauber ...
(1910) * ''Stories from
Emile Zola Emil or Emile may refer to: Literature *'' Emile, or On Education'' (1762), a treatise on education by Jean-Jacques Rousseau * ''Émile'' (novel) (1827), an autobiographical novel based on Émile de Girardin's early life *'' Emil and the Detecti ...
'' (1935) * ''The tales of
Guy de Maupassant Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant (, ; ; 5 August 1850 – 6 July 1893) was a 19th-century French author, remembered as a master of the short story form, as well as a representative of the Naturalist school, who depicted human lives, destin ...
'' (1964)


Other

* ''Stray Leaves From Strange Literature; Stories Reconstructed from the Anvari-Soheili, Baital Pachisi, Mahabharata, Pantchantra, Gulistan, Talmud, Kalewala, etc.'' (1884, James R. Osgood and Company) * ''Some Chinese Ghosts'' (1887)


See also

* Lafcadio Hearn Memorial Museum * Goryo Hamaguchi


References


Further reading

* Amenomori, Nobushige (1905). "Lafcadio Hearn, the Man," ''The Atlantic Monthly'', October 1905. * Bisland, Elizabeth (1906)
''The Life and Letters of Lafcadio Hearn''Vol. II
New York: Houghton, Mifflin & Company. * Bronner, Simon J. 2002. ''Lafcadio Hearn's America: Ethnographic Sketches and Editorials''. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky. * . * Dawson, Carl (1992). ''Lafcadio Hearn and the Vision of Japan'', Johns Hopkins University Press. * . *Hirakawa, Sukehiro and Yoko Makino (2018), ''What is Shintō? Japan, a Country of Gods, as Seen by Lafcadio Hearn'', Tokyo: Kinseisha. * . * Kunst, Arthur E. (1969). ''Lafcadio Hearn'', Twayne Publishers. * Langton, D. H. (1912)
"Lafcadio Hearn: Journalist and Writer on Japan,"
''The Manchester Quarterly'', Vol. XXXI. * . * Mais, S. P. B. (1920)
"Lafcadio Hearn."
In ''Books and their Writers'', Grant Richards, Ltd. * McWilliams, Vera (1946)
''Lafcadio Hearn''
Houghton Mifflin Company. * Miner, Earl Roy (1958). ''The Japanese Tradition in British and American Literature'', Princeton University Press. * Monaham, Michael (1922)
"Lafcadio Hearn,"
''An Attic Dreamer'', Mitchell Kennerley. * More, Paul Elmer (1905)
"Lafcadio Hearn."
In ''Shelburne Essays'', Second Series, G. P. Putnam's Sons. * Murray, Paul (1993). ''A Fantastic Journey: The Life and Literature of Lafcadio Hearn'', Japan Library. * Noguchi, Yone (1905)
"Lafcadio Hearn, A Dreamer,"
''National Magazine'', Vol. XXII, No. 1. * . * . * . * ; republished in . * Setsu, Koizumi (1918)
''Reminiscences of Lafcadio Hearn''
Houghton Mifflin Company. * . * Stevenson, Elizabeth (1961). ''Lafcadio Hearn'', Macmillan New York * Thomas, Edward (1912)
''Lafcadio Hearn''
Houghton Mifflin Company. *Murray, Paul, ed. 2019. Japanese Ghost Stories. Lafcadio Hearn. London: Penguin. *Hearn, Lafcadio. 2019. Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things. By. 2019. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. (soft cover).


External links


Lafcadio Hearn Memorial Museum
Matsue city in Japan
Lafcadio Hearn History Center
Lefkada in Greece
Lafcadio Hearn Gardens
Tramore in Ireland

* * * *
Works by Lafcadio Hearn
at
Hathi Trust HathiTrust Digital Library is a large-scale collaborative repository of digital content from research libraries including content digitized via Google Books and the Internet Archive digitization initiatives, as well as content digitized locally ...
* .
Hearn's influence in literature
* .
Lafcadio Hearn's papers
at the
Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library The Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library at the University of Virginia is a research library that specializes in American history and literature, history of Virginia and the southeastern United States, the history of the Universit ...
, University of Virginia
Japan and the Japanese as Seen by Foreigners



Two Years in the French West Indies
From the Collections at the Library of Congress
Lafcadio Hearn Correspondence
digitized by Loyola University New Orleans * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hearn, Lafcadio 20th-century Buddhists Greek Buddhists Macedonian Buddhists Irish Buddhists Converts to Buddhism from Christianity 1850 births 1904 deaths 19th-century Irish writers Alumni of Ushaw College Collectors of fairy tales Converts to Buddhism from Eastern Orthodoxy English-language writers from Japan Foreign advisors to the government in Meiji-period Japan Former Greek Orthodox Christians Ghost story writers Greek people of Irish descent Irish emigrants to Japan Greek emigrants to the United States Irish emigrants to the United States (before 1923) Japanese folklorists Japanese writers Japanologists Naturalized citizens of Japan People from Lefkada University of Tokyo faculty Waseda University faculty The Cincinnati Enquirer people Greek emigrants to Ireland People from Rathmines Mukoyōshi Weird fiction writers