Synopsis "Kokoro"

The papers composing this volume treat of the inner rather than of the outer life of Japan, -for which reason they have been grouped under the title Kokoro (heart). In these collected articles by Lafcadio Hearn, the author recounts a number of Japanese stories and observations on life in Japan in an attempt to "get to the heart of things". Patrick Lafcadio Hearn (27 June 1850 - 26 September 1904), known also by the Japanese name Koizumi Yakumo, was an international writer, known best for his books about Japan, especially his collections of Japanese legends and ghost stories.

Lafcadio Hearn

(Author)

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(Greece 1850 - Japan 1904), born in Greece to an Irish father and Greek mother, he was raised between Greece and Ireland. At the age of nineteen, he moved to the United States to start his journalism career and later to Japan in 1890, where he would spend the rest of his life as a teacher and writer. He is noted for his narrative and descriptive talent both in his journalistic and literary work. He was one of the first Europeans to introduce Japanese culture to Western readers. His long stay in Japan, combined with his deep knowledge of Japanese culture and traditions and his poetic imagination and narrative style, have secured him a privileged place in the reading community and an even more privileged place in the hearts of the Japanese.

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