May 2023
The Lafcadio Hearn Library at the University of Toyama
The Centre Director of JaSt, Assoc. Prof. Naonori Kodate visited the Lafcadio Hearn Library (est. 1924) at the University of Toyama (est. 1923 – one of the 86 national universities in Japan), and met with Prof. Toshie Nakajima (Faculty of Humanities, University of Toyama), Mr Akira Kinoshita (Vice-President, the Toyama Hearn Society) and Mr Kazuhiro Hayashi (Central Library, University of Toyama).
(From left to right – Assoc.Prof. Kodate, Prof. Nakajima and Mr Kinoshita)
As for the Library, the university website explains: “The Lafcadio Hearn Library is a book collection that had been privately owned by Lafcadio Hearn (1850～1904, naturalized as a Japanese Koizumi Yakumo/小泉八雲) . The library consists of 2,069 foreign books, 364 Japanese books and handwritten manuscripts of “Japan: An Attempt at Interpretation” composed of two volumes and 1,200 leaves. Most of the foreign books including 1,350 English books and 719 French books were collected by Hearn in Japan, however, it seems some of them were purchased during his stay in Cincinnatti and New Orleans in America as an impoverished journalist. Japanese books, which were the origins of his literary creation through the storytelling of his wife Setsu, included 38 books of Teikoku Bunko, ghost stories of Takizawa Bakin, Juppensha Ikku and Santo Kyoden. Most of the Japanese books are Japanese style woodprint books.”
The Library is a gem, and contains a lot of precious materials not only for researchers but also for the general public.
The library also holds Nannichi Bunko which contains 267 books, and about 2,600 pieces of research literature related to Lafcadio Hearn. Nannichi Tsunetaro is the first principal of Toyama High School (now the University of Toyama) and was the one who brought Hearn’s book collection from Tokyo to Toyama. His younger brother (Tanabé Ryuji – Prof. of English Literature) was a former pupil of Lafcadio Hearn, and the bereaved family of Hearn was looking for someone who could transfer all of Hearn’s library to somewhere safe. After hearing about this from his brother, Nannichi became determined to inherit the Hearn’s library for Toyama High School.
The website continues: “Toyama High School (now the University of Toyama) was established thanks to the great contribution of Mrs. Haru, the mother of Baba Masaharu in Higashi Iwase-machi, Toyama-shi, then Mrs. Haru accepted the wish of the principal Nannichi, and purchased the Hearn’s library and presented it to Toyama High School during the opening ceremony of the new school held on June 10, 1924.”
Residence of the Baba Family, Toyama City (Photo: Naonori Kodate)
The Lafcadio Hearn Library is open to the public regularly. For further information, please visit their website - (opens in a new window)https://www.lib.u-toyama.ac.jp/chuo/hearn/hearn_index.html
Prof. Toshié Nakajima (Professor of French and Francophone Studies and European Literature) will be visiting UCD Centre for Japanese Studies this coming September, as we hold a networking seminar and event, led by Prof. Mary Gallagher (Professor of French and Francophone Studies, UCD School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics & UCD Centre for Japanese Studies).