ABSTRACT
I believe that the period here [Matsue] will be one of the happiest, as I am sure it will be intellectually one of the most productive of my life. 1
THE LAFCADIO HEARN who arrived in Matsue on 30 August 1890, just two days before he was due to take up his teaching post, was a very different figure who had landed in Yokohama a ~~~b~re.N~~~~~~~~~m~~
income and not be dependent on the caprice of publishers, infuriating at the best of times but intolerable when magnified by distance. Although he may not have yet fully realised it, he could hardly have chosen a better place, at a better time, for his exploration of Japan.
