Lafcadio Hearn

Born in Greece in 1850 and raised partly in Ireland, Lafcadio Hearn went on to build an unusually wide-ranging life across several countries. After emigrating to the United States as a young man, he worked as a journalist in Cincinnati and New Orleans, where he became known for lively, distinctive writing before traveling to the Caribbean.

In 1890 he arrived in Japan, the country most closely linked with his name. There he taught, married into a Japanese family, became a Japanese citizen under the name Koizumi Yakumo, and wrote books that introduced many Western readers to Japanese culture, folklore, and everyday life.

He is especially remembered for works such as Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan and Kwaidan, a collection of supernatural tales that helped make his name endure. More than a travel writer, he had a gift for turning close observation into something haunting, intimate, and deeply memorable.