The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1904-11-26
The PASSING OF
- ~ = Il
LAFCADIO HEARN:
HE WAS "a DELICATE EASILY
BROKEN JAPANESE VASE,
Yone Noguchi's Tribute to the Adopted
Poet Of sJapan-IIe Had Become Jap
anese Thru and Tru, Tried to Hide
Himself from Foreigners and to Bind
Himself Closer and Closer to His
Chosen Country.
Yone Noguchi in Boston Transcript.

Yone Noguchi in Boston Transcript.
Lafcadio Hearn, the poet Of Japan,
was buried on the afternoon Of Sept. 20.
with Buddhist rites. The funeral serv-
ice was held in his most beloved tenn
PIE, Jl-sho-in Of Ichigaya, or the Kob
u ua as the people call it, in whose
About forty Japanese professors and
one hundred Japanese students from
the Imperial university and the Vase
da university, sad in heart and full Of
respect for the memorX of the dead
teacher, attended . the service. The
flowers, chrysanthemums and a mokusei
7o.6d9 richly perfumsssd-which he
of laurel with the following inscription
was presented from his former stu
dents: =,
In memory, Of Lafcadio Hearn.
whose pen was mightier than the sword
OF the victorious nation which he loved
and lived among, and whose highest
citizenship and alasl grave
Seven Buddhist priests read the SUIT
"a. There were the clouds Of incense
sweet as the breath Of the Lord Budd.
sha. We We're sad. His widow dropped
her head. His eldest son and his other
two little boys knelt before their faith
RS g, coffin and bowed, as do the Japan
ieense and repeated the holy: name. The
bells rang and there was the greatest
silence from saddest feeling when the
service was finished. His funeral was
the most sincere held in long time. .
Only three foreigners, Americans,
were present at the service. He lived
among them knew where he lived I
am sure he would be glad to be fol-
lowed to his grave by Japanese stu
dents more than foreigners or cabinet
members. In fact, I am told he once
refused to see one Of the cabinet mem
bers, but he was always glad to see 8
poorly dressed student. - ~
It was on the Goth that he died sud.
denly from heart failure. There is no
other foreigner who has been buried
with the Buddhist rite. But Lafcadio
Hearn was Japanese thru and thru.
How satisfied will his spirit be in hav-
ing his funeral sanctifed in the .Kob-
udera, and the priests, his own personal
he loved the 3Buddha booksl He was
studying them under Professor Murak.
ami. We had looked forward to hav-
ing his own English version: He NAV
not haye> been Buddhist or a Christian
in the worldly meaning. In his heart
ne was Buddhist as wells as Chris
tlan. What difference is there between
1t was from his beloved temple there
wonderfully weird study :HThe Litera.
tureaof the DeadO in his Exotics and
Retrospectives. Yes, every afternoon
did he spend. in the Kobudera garden
especially in its graveyard. He wrote:
partly because in the twilight of its
great trees, and in the silence Of cen
turtles which have gathered about them
one can forget the city and It's turmoil
| and dream out Of space. and time-Abut
much more because it is full Of beauty
and the poetry Of great faith. Indeed
exeeptional.' So he wandeled il stle
was given 1.-THE .Literature Of tic the
Dead He studied there in the Kobu
dera's cemetery; "with the immemoria]
trees, the evergreen mazes Of shrub
berry trimmed into quaintest shapes, the
carpet softness of the moss paths, the
! monume nts"- the Chinese scriptures
chiselled into the granite Of tombs, OF
.l1mned byaa master. brush upon the
smooth wood of the sotoba-a long slen
del. piece ofzwood for monument. Yes
.Lafeadio Hearn turned already into a
FsoCoDa.. And bis Sotoba bore, sShOshin
In, Hoko, Hachiun Koii.N Who knows
come along. some day in the future and
another g Literature Of the Dead9"
Alas, that heis deadl To use a Chinese
expression Of sadness. ftThe heavens
and earth cried over his death trees
and birds were still from grief.'''. Fl
his death the wife has lost her husband
| hoU a L
father. Japan has lost her greatest
spokesman. to the English speaking
world, and the world has lost one NJ
the most wonderful writer's. He7.hal
the clear vision of poet and an Sex
traordinary power Of penetrating to tht
heart Of beautiful and truthful things
HE went far into the mysterious depth
endowment Of the powers Of penetra
bent Of his mind gave added force. =
1 And he possessed the unusual gif
also OF clothing his thoughts with Ian
guage whose exuberance never de
J tracted from It's crystalline clearness
In a word he was a great artist in tn,
| truest meaning.
die. How he loved autumn-the Jap
anese autumnl Japan expresses fuliy
sadness in beauty in autumn. II,
was the poet Of loneliness and beauty
The Japanese autumn is the season o:
longing and meditation, the season o:
shadow and memory. You will b,
longing in Japan's autumn for tn,
shrilling and whirr Of happy winged
things, the chorus Of cicada and bird
the lisping laughter. Of the water, tn,
undertone of LEAKAGE astir. You viii
be longing for the smell Of flowers anc
fruitage, for all sharp, sweet odors Of