LAFCADIO HEARN (1850–1904) was an international writer, best known for his classical collections of legends and ghost stories, and studies of all things strange and marvelous. He became known to the world at large by the originality, power and literary charm of his writings. Indeed, this wayward bohemian genius was curiously qualified, among all those who were interpreting the new and the old Japan to the Western world, to see it with unfettered understanding, and express its life and thought with the most intimate and most artistic sincerity. Lafcadio Hearn's books were indeed unique in their combination of knowledge and a literary merit often exquisite.