Memories of Hearn

A kitten warmed inside a robe, a conch shell sounded for a tobacco fire, a ghost story retold until it inhabits a room: Koizumi Setsuko remembers the small incidents through which her husband’s imaginative life became part of their household.

In Memories of Hearn, she recalls Lafcadio Hearn, known in Japan as Koizumi Yakumo, from his early days in Matsue through their travels and life in Tokyo. His love of old customs, gardens, insects, and dreams appears beside his impatience with formal clothes, social obligations, and the destruction of beauty. Setsuko describes how she supplied and retold stories for his writing, raised their children with him, and quietly managed the practical matters he wished to leave untouched.

This complete English translation preserves her gentle voice, Hearn’s distinctive quoted Japanese, affectionate family exchanges, and the deeply personal account of his final days. Thirty-one notes clarify names, customs, books, and textual difficulties. The memoir offers an intimate portrait of a celebrated writer through the memories of the woman who shared and sustained his quiet world.