Lafcadio Hearn

Lafcadio Hearn (1850–1904) was the son of an Anglo-Irish father and a Greek mother. He was one of the earliest writers to relay stories of supernatural Japan to the West. He arrived in Japan in 1890 and fell in love with the country and its people. He married a samurai's daughter, became a Japanese citizen and a Buddhist, and changed his name to Koizumi Yakumo. In 1896, he began teaching English literature at Tokyo Imperial University, and then at Waseda University, becoming the great interpreter of things Japanese to the West. His books on Japan include Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan, Kokoro, A Japanese Miscellany, and Kwaidan.