Episode 14: Lafcadio Hearn: The Greek-Irish Writer Who Opened Japan to the World

Warning: This episode briefly discusses themes of a Sexual Nature including Prostitution.The story of Lafcadio Hearn/Koizumi Yakumo, a key figure in introducing Japanese Culture to the Western World.Episode Icon: Lafcadio Hearn, 1. From a photograph taken at Martinique, August 24, 1888, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain.Links to photos associated with the episode...Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/historyhouse1.bsky.social/post/3lsro7fjmas2e Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1BurYzqv9H/?mibextid=wwXIfr Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DLf9nkxoh12/?igsh=MW55Nmxwa3c4N2ZqOQ== Recommended further reading...​Cott, Jonathan, 'Wandering Ghost: The Odyssey of Lafcadio Hearn', (Tokyo and New York, 1992).​Dawson, Carl, 'Lafcadio Hearn and the Vision of Japan', (Baltimore and London, 1992).​Evangelista, Stefano, 'Lafcadio Hearn and Global Aestheticism', in 'Literary Cosmopolitanism in the English Fin de Siècle: Citizens of Nowhere', (Oxford, 2021). ​Hearn, Lafcadio, 'Japanese Ghost Stories,' (Republished by Penguin Classics, London, 2019).​Hearn, Lafcadio, 'Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan', (Republished by Tuttle, North Clarendon, Tokyo, 2009). ​Hearn, Lafcadio, 'Kokoro, An Intimate Portrait of Japanese Inner Life', (Republished by Tuttle, North Clarendon, Tokyo, 2022).​Hearn, Lafcadio, 'Lafcadio Hearn's Japan, Stories and Essays from Japan's Most Famous Foreign Observer, (Republished by Tuttle, North Clarendon, Tokyo, 2022).​Kemme, Steve, 'The Outsider, The Life and Work of Lafcadio Hearn, The Man Who Introduced Voodoo, Creole Cooking and Japanese Ghost Stories to the World', (North Clarendon, Tokyo, 2023).​Koizumi, Setsu, 'The Annotated Reminiscences of Lafcadio Hearn', (Republished in San Francisco and Tajimi, 2012).​Murray, Paul, 'A Fantastic Journey: The Life and Literature of Lafcadio Hearn', (Folkestone, 1993). ​Ronan, Senan, Koizumi, Toki, 'Lafcadio Hearn (Koizumi Yakumo), His Life, Work and Irish Background', (Dublin, 1991).​Ronan, Senan (ed.), 'Irish Writing on Lafcadio Hearn and Japan, Writer, Journalist & Teacher, (Folkestone, 1999).I would also highly recommend 'Black Dragonfly' by Jean Paisley, (London, 2021). While it is a fictionalised biography of Lafcadio Hearn, it is based extensively on his own letters and told in a way that I found highly engaging. Link to Lafcadio Hearn's 'explicit' resignation letter from Harper's, (Obviously this contains strong language)... https://djflanagan.blogspot.com/2016/02/japan-times-articles-on-lafcadio-hearn.html Break Music: 'Yosakoi Bushi' by Mocha Music on PremiumBeat by Shutterstock, https://www.premiumbeat.com (Purchased with license on the 27/06/2025).Beginning and closing theme, 'Classical Orchestral Dvorak Serenade Waltz Strings Music, provided by mrqwertz on https://www.pond5.com (Purchased with license on the 01/06/2024).