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).
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