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Lafcadio Hearn and his Tokyo grave
Lafcadio Hearn was Greek, Irish, and Japanese. Most people have only one nationality. A few have two. But he had three! How did he get three? He had many occupations, but his most successful were writer, reporter, and teacher. His resume was extensive. In his fifty-four years of life, he had his share of fame.
It was his writing that got it for him. While he was in the United States and the French West Indies, he published books. But it was his Japanese works that made him famous.
He wrote at a time when the country was hardly known. It was an exotic place. His books entertained and thrilled people who would never travel.
Do you know any of them? If you are a real Japanophile, you might have read Kokoro or Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan. These books and others contained his thoughts, insights, and experiences in the country. Some of his other material was quite different.
That other material was his collections and writings of Japanese ghost stories. Kwaidan and In Ghostly Japan are probably the most famous. Some are still on recommended reading lists in many Japanese schools.
A brief biography of Lafcadio Hearn
His early life was tumultuous. He was born in 1850 on the island of Lefkada in Greece. His father was a soldier of British or British-Irish origin, and his mother was Greek. And that explains how he got two of his nationalities.
When he was young, his family moved to Dublin, Ireland. From there, his life took a downward turn. His parents had problems, and they broke up in Ireland.
He found himself abandoned. His relatives took him in, but his situation worsened. The boy was small and didn’t look like a local. Bullies found him an easy target. During this time, he also lost the sight of one eye in a playground accident.
To compound his problems, he had a fear of the dark. His aunt cured it by locking him in windowless rooms. That was probably rough, but she did get him an education. He became fluent in French and gained excellent English skills.
It is said he had a nurse during these formative years. She told him stories about the supernatural. This probably paved the way for his interest in Japanese ghost stories when he landed there.
In school, Lafcadio went on to become the top student in English composition for three years. That proved most fortuitous. It would help him in later years.
Eventually, his guardians had financial difficulties. So they sent him to London to live with a former maid. Things must have looked grim him. But his life did turn around.
At 19, his guardian’s position recovered somewhat. They gave him a little money and suggested he go to the United States. He stayed for nearly twenty years.
He worked various jobs. But in Cincinnati, he became a journalist. Lafcadio was known for this crime reporting, especially murders. Remember those creative writing skills he learned when he was younger? He put them to good use when he wrote his stories.
After he had had enough of Cincinnati, he moved to New Orleans. His Louisana works included a creole dictionary and a cookbook. Harper’s Weekly and Scribner’s Magazine also published his articles about the city.
After that, Harper’s sent him as a correspondent to the French West Indies. He reported and published more during his two-year stay. By the time he left the Americas, he had established quite a reputation.
His last stop was Japan. He went there in 1890 as a newspaper correspondent. At age 40, he remained there for the rest of his life. This new country, with its history, culture, and supernatural stories, fascinated him. Hearn had found his home.
He married a Japanese woman, Setsuko (often shortened to Setsu). They had four children. He took a Japanese name, Yakumo Koizumi, and became a Buddhist.
Lafcadio supported his family by teaching. In 1894, he got a job at the English-language newspaper Kobe Chronicle. He had some good friends like Basil Chamberlain. Through them, he worked at Tokyo Imperial University and Waseda University.
And while he worked, he wrote his books. They gave much insight into Japan, but eventually, Lafcadio was forgotten for a long time. Many people dismissed his work due to him not speaking fluent Japanese. Nor did his work have academic depth.
On 26 September 1904, Hearn died of heart failure in Tokyo. He was 54 years old. Today, he lies in Zoshigaya Cemetery with his wife Setsu, and son Kazuo.
The Lafcadio Hearn grave
First, I should have written the Koizumi family grave as Setsu and Kazuo are with him. Of course, he became a naturalized Japanese well before he died. And that is on the tombstones. But he is still referred to as Lafcadio Hearn in the west, so that is what I will use here.
Lafcadio’s grave is beautiful. It lies under trees. Around him is peace and quiet. Zoshigaya Cemetery is that type of place.
The grave is in good condition. Someone is looking after it. He was an important person during his life and is treated with respect today. Whenever I visit it, there is always a gift on it, like a bottle of drink (water in these photos). Other times, I’ve seen oranges and cans of coffee.
Where is Lacadio's grave?
It is in Zoshigaya Cemetery, near Ikebukuro. The three easiest ways to get there are:
- Walk from Ikebukuro, which will take about fifteen minutes.
- Take the Tokyo Sakura Line (also known as the Toden Arakawa (tram) Line) to Toden Zoshigaya Station. The cemetery is over the road.
- Take the Fukutoshin Metro Line to Zoshigaya Station (don’t confuse it with the tram line above)
There is a map with his grave
Once at the cemetery, go to the administration office to get a map. It has historically important graves on it. You need to be careful, though. As you can see in my picture, Hearn’s is numbered twenty-five (25). But on the map is marked as twenty-four (24).
Conclusion
If you are interested in Lafcadio Hearn, you should visit his grave at Zoshigaya Cemetery. It will allow you to visit a person who gave the West some first glimpses into Japan. And while there, you can see the graves of some other famous people:
External websites about Lafcadio Hearn