Japan An Attempt At Interpretation Paperback – June 26, 2012

Having been recently in Japan, I read this book while on my trip and after it and I found a lot of truth in Hearn's study of Japanese society.The author relies on the famous Herbert Spencer to explain the sociological aspect of the Japanese and gives a sincere and knowledgeable interpretation of the religious, social, political, and economic reality of these amazing islanders.The most surprising thing is that this book was written at the beginning of the 20th century and yet you still see the same wonderful traits in Japanese society today.There is an extremely interesting letter in the Appendix of this book; a letter written by Herbert Spencer to a policy maker in Japan, where Spencer strongly advices against the Japanese mixing with other races (and, meanwhile, venting his own adamant opposition to interracial relationships in general). Spencer even adds at the end a caution against these views of him ever getting out. You won't want to miss it.I have read other works by Lafcadio Hearn on Japan but I think this one comes closest to explaining the Japanese.

Lafcadio Hearn’s Japan: an Attempt at Interpretation was written just after the start of the 20th Century. His contemporary Japan was at the beginning of what would become a the highly nationalized, militarized and horrific Japan of World War II. He may have had a glimmering of the wonderful modern and traditional place that Japan would become after the destruction of that deliberately corrupted Samurai self-image. This book represents his understanding of what Japan had been and how he wished the Western world would come to appreciate the older culture, and specifically its ingrained ancestor worshiping history.I found it generally accessible. Because he would have to use Japanese names and concepts, having an ear for the language will greatly help the reader. If you are looking to add some depth to your understanding of Japan My recommendation is that you get some context and maybe a more deliberate history on your shelf before turning to Lefadio Hearn.It is also possible to think of this as a western scholar seeking to explain Japan to westerners, here is some information about Lecadio Hearn or as he was known in Japan: Koizumi Yakuma.Lefcadio Hearn was the son of a Irish/Greek family. His father, a Staff Surgeon 2nd class in the Army left him with family in Ireland, where he was abandoned by his mother. He was raised by relatives, first on the island of Lefkadain Greece and later in Ireland. At 19 he was ”shipped” to America where he became a newspaperman and editor. Much of this time was in New Orleans. Which is where I first came to know of him and seek out his books.Whatever his given name he took Lefcadio from the island of his birth. Arriving in and finding work in Cincinnati, he married an African American woman. At the time such a mixed-race marriage was illegal. Whatever the strain on the marriage it failed after 3 years.Skipping his New Orleans and Caribbean years he arrived in Japan in 1890 He would live, write and teach at the university level, until his death in 1904.He became so enamored of Japan was he that he adopted the name Koizumi Yakuma. This was taken from his Japanese wife’s Samurai family name and he would become a Buddhist. His memory is highly respected in Japan where they maintain a museum in his name. I can tell you that many Japanese recognize his name as an important person in the history of Japan.The book, Japan: an Attempt at Interpretation, is just that. The mix of scholarship and personal experience should be understood as no more than he explains in the introduction. It is his belief that no understanding of the history of Japan can be attempted without a deep appreciation for the central role of the Shinto religion. It is his belief that all cultures begin with some variation of ancestor worship. Japan at least up to just before Hearn’s time never gave it up. His use of language may give the impression that he believes this a lesser degree of national progress, but from the context I conclude that they made ancestor worship work and never felt the need to ‘progress’ beyond it.In making the case for a religion based on ancestor worship he states that such a religion needs no doctrine and my not appear as a religion in any western sense. In this system the effect of the ancestral line is that everyone is being watched, judged and either aided or punished according to the degree of respect shown to the generations past. Everyone has a ridged place in a rigid society. Sumptuary laws specified your living conditions down to the maximum size of your house and the gifts permitted your children.Your behavior was always being judged, fist by your familial ancestors and then through them to the layers of ancestors connected you to your community and eventually to your nation. Your roles in the household, community and nation were rigidly circumscribed. Failure to live according to your role could bring punishment, banishment or shame from above, by senior members of the family or from below if the community or your family ruled that the otherwise senior was excessive or lax in living according to tradition.By the 1900, many of these restrictions were being relaxed but Hearn tells us that they still influenced behaviors and in more remote communities were preferred over new freedoms. He is also of the belief that at its height, these traditions created communities where the police had no work and criminals did not exist. Those in power had no motive to work towards holding more and anyone could be punished for failure to conform. We are to believe that the general population was content to have virtually no freedom, no hope for advancement and no motive for greed or chance to transgress. Maybe so or maybe a romantic willingness to believe the older folks.By the time Hearn was writing, he knew he was speaking of a past soon to disappear. His intent was to remind his contemporary readers about the cultural traditions of the emerging more national and more militaristic Japan. Much of what he says about this would prove to be darker than he imagines.

Lafcadio Hearn says that Japanese culture is like a Bonsai tree, meticulously sculpted and trimmed and controlled for thousands of years. Even during his time (1890-1904) the rules were changing and the gardner was putting away his shears, and chaos was beginning to reclaim the tree.However, to understand this strange plant, with the roots and bends and twists of Bonsai sculpting, one must look at its past, and the methods of shaping. From Hearn's point of view, this shaping is religion, specifically Ancestor worship and the "rule of the dead." Without insight into Japanese religious history and practices, Hearn says, you cannot understand Japan, its history or its people."Japan: An attempt at interpretation" is incredibly insightful and thorough, offering a history of the various forms of Shinto, Buddhism, Confucianism and other folk-practices that shaped the national character. I am currently working on my MA in Japanese Religion, and I can verify that his research is correct, and his conclusions still hold. It is the longest of Hearn's books, and obviously a great deal of work went into it.All though time has passed him by, "Japan: An Attempt at Interpretation" is still a valid, interesting book, both well-written and accurate. It DOES help explain Japanese interactions and culture. Most interesting are his speculations of Japanese culture, and where it would go in his pre-WWII era. Unfortunately, some of his worst fears were realized.