One of the remarkable achievements of Lafcadio Hearn is that his writings about Japan became loved and appreciated both by those far away in Europe and America who knew little about the country, and by Japanese readers who knew rather a lot. For all foreign correspondents, wherever they find themselves, striking a balance between emphases on the exotic to attract attention and the quotidian to provide real illumination, and being interpretative without being patronising, is harder than it might seem. This lecture, by the renowned author and journalist Bill Emmott, will explore the lessons from Hearn for subsequent writers about this fascinating but often hard to understand culture, and from others, in the century-and-a-quarter since, who have emulated his dual success.

Biographical Note:

Bill Emmott is a journalist and consultant best known for his thirteen years as Editor-in-Chief of The Economist in 1993-2006 as well as for serving as the publication's Bureau Chief in Tokyo from 1983 to 1986. The author of fourteen books, including in 1989 The Sun Also Sets: Why Japan Will Not be Number One, which became a bestseller in Japanese translation, he was chair of The Japan Society of the UK between 2019 and 2024, and in 2016 was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon by the Japanese government for services to UK-Japan Relations.

His latest books have included Japan's Far More Female Future in 2020 and Deterrence, Diplomacy and the Risk of Conflict over Taiwan, in 2024. A dual Irish and UK citizen, Bill is resident in Killiney, Co. Dublin, and, among other roles, is a trustee of the Chester Beatty Library.

This talk is presented by the OPW in support of the Farmleigh Gallery exhibition Kwaidan - Encounters with Lafcadio Hearn, which runs until Sunday 24th August, and as part of the Farmleigh House cultural programme for 2025.