Why, as is our custom, we had not yet claimed him as another authentic Irish genius in exile. I could not understand why he was not better known in Ireland. His house, a former samurai residence beside Matsue Castle, has been preserved just as it was when he lived there. They have a museum dedicated to him in the city of Matsue. I began to understand why he was, and still is, so famous in Japan. These were not ghost stories or fairy tales, for which he is most famous these were books about Japanese society, religion and culture. Every day as I walked my dog I had to pass his house. When I moved back to Ireland, by strange coincidence, I found myself living close to one of Hearn’s childhood homes. It happened so often I became curious and started to read his work. I had never heard of this Irish man with a Japanese name. Sometimes they used his Japanese name: Koizumi Yakumo, which baffled me even more. When people heard I was from Ireland their invariable response was, “Ah, Ireland, Lafcadio Hearn”. I first came across Lafcadio Hearn when I was living in Japan in the 1980s.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |