Hearn, (Patrick) Lafcadio (Tessima Carlos) (1850-1904)

Greek-born US writer and translator. He lived in Japan from 1890 and became a Japanese citizen. His many books on Japanese life and customs introduced the country to many Western readers, for example, Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan (1893) and In Ghostly Japan (1904).

A journalist, Hearn was sent to Japan to write an article for a US magazine and never left. His sympathetic understanding of the country and its culture made him accepted and appreciated by the Japanese, and his writings are still widely read. From 1896 he taught English literature at Tokyo University.