Kokoro

Kokoro, by Lafcadio Hearn

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Title: Kokoro Japanese Inner Life Hints
Author: Lafcadio Hearn
Release Date: September, 2005 [EBook #8882] [Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on August 20, 2003]
Edition: 10
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KOKORO ***

Produced by Liz Warren.

THE papers composing this volume treat of the inner rather than of the outer life of Japan,--for which reason they have been grouped under the title Kokoro (heart). Written with the above character, this word signifies also mind, in the emotional sense; spirit; courage; resolve; sentiment; affection; and inner meaning,--just as we say in English, "the heart of things."
KOBE September 15, 1895.
CONTENTS
I. AT A RAILWAY STATION II. THE GENIUS Of JAPANESE CIVILIZATION III. A STREET SINGER IV. FROM A TRAVELING DIARY V. THE NUN OF THE TEMPLE OF AMIDA VI. AFTER THE WAR VII. HARU VIII. A GLIMPSE OF TENDENCIES IX. BY FORCE OF KARMA X. A CONSERVATIVE XI. IN THE TWILIGHT OF THE GODS XII. THE IDEA OF PRE-EXISTENCE XIII. IN CHOLERA-TIME XIV. SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT ANCESTOR-WORSHIP XV. KIMIKO APPENDIX. THREE POPULAR BALLADS

KOKORO
I
AT A RAILWAY STATION
Seventh day of the sixth Month;-- twenty-sixth of Meiji.
Yesterday a telegram from Fukuoka announced that a desperate criminal captured there would be brought for trial to Kumamoto to-day, on the train due at noon. A Kumamoto policeman had gone to Fukuoka to take the prisoner in charge.
Four years ago a strong thief entered some house by night in the Street of the Wrestlers, terrified and bound the inmates, and carried away a number of valuable things. Tracked skillfully by the police, he was captured within twenty-four hours,--even before he could dispose of his plunder. But as he was being taken to the police station he burst his bonds, snatched the sword of his captor, killed him, and escaped. Nothing more was heard of him until last week.
Then a Kumamoto detective, happening to visit the Fukuoka prison, saw among the toilers a face that had been four years photographed upon his brain. "Who is that man?" he asked the guard. "A thief," was the reply,--"registered here as Kusabe." The detective walked up to the prisoner and said:--
"Kusabe is not your name. Nomura Teichi, you are needed in Kumamoto for murder." The felon confessed all.
I went with a great throng of people to witness the arrival at the station. I expected to hear and see anger; I even feared possibilities of violence. The murdered officer had been much liked; his relatives would certainly be among the spectators; and a Kumamoto crowd is not very gentle. I also thought to find many police on duty. My anticipations were wrong.
The train halted in the usual scene of hurry and noise,--scurry and clatter of passengers wearing geta,--screaming of boys wanting to sell Japanese newspapers and Kumamoto lemonade. Outside the barrier we waited for nearly five minutes. Then, pushed through the wicket by a police-sergeant, the prisoner appeared,--a large wild-looking man, with head bowed down, and arms fastened behind his back. Prisoner and guard both halted in front of the wicket; and the people pressed forward to see--but in silence. Then the officer called out,--
"Sugihara San! Sugihara O-Kibi! is she present?"
A slight small woman standing near me, with a child on her back, answered, "Hai!" and advanced through the press. This was the widow of the murdered man; the child she carried was his son. At a wave of the officer's hand the crowd fell back, so as to leave a clear space about the prisoner and his escort. In that space the woman with the child stood facing the murderer. The hush was of death.
Not to the woman at all, but to the child only, did the officer then speak. He spoke low, but so clearly that I could catch every syllable:--
"Little one, this is the man who killed your father four years ago. You had not