The Annotated Out of the East by Lafcadio Hearn

In The Annotated Out of the East by Lafcadio Hearn, the former bohemian author and now family man has taken up a new teaching position and has left the comforts of the City of Matsue in Shimane Prefecture; a place he found to be far more severe and less good-natured, famous (or perhaps infamous) for its "Kyushu spirit" and its "Kyushu tone." Yet, even in an environment he regarded as dissatisfactory, he was able to find that the reserved young men he taught were capable of wonderful, even beautiful thoughts, which he takes the time to share with us. He also takes time out from his teaching responsibilities at the Higher Middle School to tell us three wonderful Japanese "fairy tales," and to muse on the origins of man and his future evolution, as well as some of the intricacies of Japanese Buddhism and Shinto; the workings of the Japanese family, and the differences between East and West when it comes to unheard of local customs, art, and even femininity and love itself. True to the style of Lafcadio Hearn, there are ghostly stores of unrequited love and revenge worthy of Kabuki plays and an encounter with one of Hearn's students from his Matsue days that takes a tragic turn. He also makes some startling predictions about the rise of Japan and its place in the world - predictions that are relevant even today, and concludes with the heart rending story of a young girl who sought to make up for the perceived sins of a nation in a very personal way. Although not the "new and shiny" impressions he expressed in Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan, one can feel and appreciate Hearn's love of the nation and its people and share in his concern for his new home. It's some of the best of Lafcadio Hearn.