A small cage was opened at Lafcadio Hearn¡¯s funeral, setting birds into the air, the soul of the deceased presumably taking flight with them. His coffin was draped in chrysanthemums and fragrant olive, adorned by a laurel wreath. Seven Buddhist priests read the sutras at Kobudera (now Jishoin Enyuji Temple) in Shinjuku Ward¡¯s Ichigaya-Tomihisacho district in Tokyo, where Hearn had frequently enjoyed a stroll among the gravestones.
The non-Japanese community was vehemently put off by the choice of venue. As if the officiation of the Buddhist priests wasn¡¯t insulting enough, they were enraged by the Occidental¡¯s profane choice of a temple for the funeral.
Hearn himself had been a living outrage to the non-Japanese community, a role that he, as an anti-Christian and anti-imperialist, had thoroughly relished. Only three foreigners attended the ceremony.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.