Synopsis "Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan"

At the close of the 19th century, Japan remained a mysterious, isolated land to much of the Western world. In 1889, Greek-Irish writer Lafcadio Hearn became one of the first Westerners to document life in Meiji Era Japan firsthand when he settled in the country to teach English. In Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan, Hearn captures his fascinating early impressions of Japanese culture, traditions, and remarkable people. He recounts details both quaint and surprising-paper windows, communal bath houses, the lives of dancers, feather artisans, and blind masseurs-with poetic observation and insight gained from integrating into Japanese society as his perspective gradually shifts from that of a Westerner abroad to a Japanese local.From musings on Shinto death rituals to tales of vengeful ghosts, Hearn entrances readers with Japan's unique spiritual relationship to nature, ancestry, and the supernatural. At times displaying Western attitudes, yet more progressive than many of his era, Hearn develops an affectionate appreciation of Japan. His vivid travel writing captures striking aspects of a nation slowly emerging from centuries of isolation into the 20th century.Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan was originally published in two volumes; this edition presents the entire work in one, including the author's explanatory footnotes. The text is newly designed and typeset, printed on archival-quality, acid-free paper with case-laminate binding for durability and long use.

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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