Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan

In these luminous sketches of Japan, Lafcadio Hearn turns a secluded garden, a banquet room, and the haunted edges of daily life into one continuous meditation on beauty, superstition, and restraint. From his new home in an old samurai residence, he marvels at Japanese gardens as works of art shaped from stones, sand, water, moss, and miniature landscapes, where even a pond can convincingly suggest a lakeshore and every rock seems to possess character, memory, and spiritual force. He moves through lotus ponds, sacred wells, shrine corners, chrysanthemums, pines, cherry blossoms, and trees believed to shelter souls or ghosts, gathering the folk beliefs and poetic associations attached to each. Frogs, graves, offerings, and legends such as O-Kiku deepen the sense that nature, death, and devotion are inseparable. The book then enters the world of the banquet, where geisha appear in brilliant robes as musicians, dancers, and hosts, their grace governed by strict decorum and old artistic traditions. Yet beneath the elegance lies a darker inquiry into illusion, reputation, and the demanding training that fashions a geisha from childhood. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.