Lafcadio Hearn

While chasing a dumpling, a little lady is captured by wicked creatures from whom she escapes with the means of becoming the richest woman in Japan.

Published posthumously in 1904, this masterful volume focuses on religion, from its early expression as ancestor worship, through more sophisticated native evolutions and foreign admixtures, as the prime shaper of Japanese culture. The most influential single account of Japan written by a Westerner up until that time, it still resonates with readers and faithfully presents aspects of Japan.

The Japanese have two kinds of ghosts in their folklore-the spirits of the dead, and the spirits of the living. This classic of Japanese literature invites you to take your choice, if you dare. In Ghostly Japan collects twelve ghostly stories from Lafcadio Hearn, deathless images of ghosts and goblins, touches of folklore and superstition, salted with traditions of the nation. While some of these stories contain nightmare imagery worthy of a midnight...

This collection of essays and classic stories set in Japan by Lafcadio Hearn one of the earliest Westerners to write about Japan is an essential addition to any collection of Japanese literature. Shadowings is made up of three parts: "Stories from Strange Books," which presents sex old Japanese tales; "Japanese Studies," in which Hearn explores the lore of his adopted country; and "Fantasies," a group of essays in which he gives free rein to his wide-ranging...

This collection of essays, individually published between 1915 and 1917, originated as lectures Hearn delivered to Japanese students at the University of Tokyo. They constitute one of the first attempts by a Western critic to interpret Western culture to the East. Chapters are dedicated to Western attitudes to women, poetry, the Bible, and an overview of Western literary influences.