This essay, published today by Engelsberg Ideas, is based on a lecture I gave in Dublin on April 12 as part of a series linked to an exhibition of new prints based on the Kwaidan ghost stories
Fascinating essay. Thank you. I seem to remember the Australian journalist Murray Sayle writing a farewell essay to Japan in The Spectator after spending 21 years there. The first seven years, he observed, were baffling. The second seven years made sense and were immensely rewarding. But the third seven years gradually became impenetrably baffling.
Bill, what a wonderful article. I have a long-standing fascination with and admiration for Japan (as it happens, I read this while sitting in Tokyo) and have recently re-read Hearn's collected ghost stories with deep pleasure. Your piece does such a great job at highlighting the challenges, rewards and ambiguities that come with approaching Japanese culture and society, together with a wealth of historical insights. Thank you for this.
Lovely essay. Cooke’s letters from America another example of going native. A recent reading of the older ones offered clues to the current weirdness.
Thanks for sharing these great insights! Quite a discovery!
Fascinating essay. Thank you. I seem to remember the Australian journalist Murray Sayle writing a farewell essay to Japan in The Spectator after spending 21 years there. The first seven years, he observed, were baffling. The second seven years made sense and were immensely rewarding. But the third seven years gradually became impenetrably baffling.
Great observation. Murray was a very fine journalist and acute observer of Japan
This is such a perfect and insightful quote.
Bill, what a wonderful article. I have a long-standing fascination with and admiration for Japan (as it happens, I read this while sitting in Tokyo) and have recently re-read Hearn's collected ghost stories with deep pleasure. Your piece does such a great job at highlighting the challenges, rewards and ambiguities that come with approaching Japanese culture and society, together with a wealth of historical insights. Thank you for this.
Many many thanks, Marco