Every country rich in history is bound to have their mythologies, legends and folktales, and of course Japan is one of them. And in the 19th century there would come a writer who would take a keen interest in those stories, his name was Lafcadio Hearn.
Patrick Lafcadio Hearn, later shortened to Lafcadio Hearn, was born on the Ionian island of Lefkada, his father an Irish officer-surgeon who was in the British army and his mother a native of the island of Kythira. It’s apparent that horror was going to permeate in Hearn’s life, particularly in his childhood.
From his childhood onward to his adult life Hearn often moved from one place to another. Or one country to another, moving from Ireland to England, then to the United States where his writing career took off, before finally landing himself in the land of the rising sun.
And there he would become intrigued by the many folk tales the country had to offer, particularly those involving ghosts. And it wouldn’t take long for him to start collecting and translating them.
The stories in this Penguin Classics collection are a good mix of the spooky and eerie and the fantastical. Hearn here keeps everything simple and also adds a little of childhood experiences into the mix. While there’s not much variation in these stories they are still quite endearing. So much so that he is still seen in Japan as a very popular figure.
I may enjoy stories that are complex and sophisticated, but I’ll always have room for simpler ones as well, and “Japanese Ghost Stories” is one of those.
by i-the-muso-1968
4 Comments
Hearn had such an interesting life. He was abandoned by his parents but eventually found a family and home in Japan. I haven’t read this collection yet although I love ghost stories. Thanks for the reminder!
Hearn’s Kwaidan was adapted by Masaki Kobayashi. It’s a long film but it is absolutely stunning.
I first learned of Hearn in a lit class in college. Very fascinating man. He bounced around the U.S. working for various newspapers and eventually married a “mulatto” woman during a time when interracial marriage wasn’t legal. He eventually found his way to Japan and became absorbed in the language and culture. To the extent that even his contemporary Japanese people thought he was old fashioned and “in too deep.”
That said. His stories are great. If you’ve neve seen Kwaidan, go check it out!
If you’re interested in Hearn’s nonfiction, I’d highly recommend the anthology *Lafcadio Hearn’s Japan*, edited by the late Donald Richie.