Kokoro

Lafcadiio Hearn is a fascinating literary figure. He was born in Greece as the son of a Irish father and Greek mother, and eventually made his way to America where he became a writer in Cincinnati, Ohio before moving on to New Orleans where he would live for 10 years and write extensively about that city and the and its vibrant multi-cultured populace. I was aware of His Japanese writings but first encountered his New Orleans writing when it was referenced in David Simon's HBO drama series Treme. Since then I read two of his most famous works, Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan and Kawaidan: Stories and a Studies of Strange Things. Kokoro: Hints and Echos of Japanese Inner Life (1896) reminds me of those New Orleans pieces in the variety and breath of his scope-Hearn was interested in all aspects of life, high and low and saw diversity as a benefit and had a thirst for knowledge. There are 15 essays and an appendix of "Three Popular Ballads" that recounted from an experience he had in Matsue, Shimane prefecture. My favorite essays in the collection are his personal accounts of daily life in Japan that are best represented by the first and last essays in the collection. In the first, "At a Railway Station" he recounts the story of a repentant thief who murdered a family man and felt enough remorse to kill himself (apparently he made his name in Cincinnati as a crime reporter). The last essay, "Kimiko" is the story of the life of a geisha who entered the profession in order to care for her family. The slice of life essays were of the most interest to me, but he also had some more philosophical essays such as "The Idea of Preexistence." I am attracted to his curiosity and attention to detail, these essays are now more than a 100 years old and give the reader a glimpse of what Japan used to be, but they still have relevance today as well.