Early Essays

by Yoné Noguchi, Edward Marx (Editor)

Yone Noguchi, the first writer of Japanese ancestry to publish books of English poetry and fiction, was also a ground-breaking essayist who introduced American and British readers to a variety of Japan-related subjects. In his earliest essays, published from 1903 to 1906, collected in this volume for the first time, Noguchi introduces English-language haiku, modern Japanese fiction and poetry, Japanese women writers, modern Japanese painters and illustrators, and modern drama, including the latest attraction on the Japanese Shakespeare. He explores Japanese humor-writing, journalism, and translations of English books, explores problems of translating Japanese poetry, and considers the movement to Romanize the Japanese language. He writes of American and British writers of his acquantance, interviews prominent Japanese, including politician Hirobumi Ito, geisha-actress Sada Yacco, Vassar graduate and society trend-setter Sutematsu Oyama, and Setsuko Koizumi, widow of the late Lafcadio Hearn, and discusses characteristic Japanese cultural subjects, including geisha, actors' wives, hairstyles and babies. He describes his own life as a Japanese immigrant, traveler, and author, including his friendships with American and British writers, and his return to Japan during the Russo-Japanese War. Five previously unpublished essays, on Japanese emigration, sumo wrestling, and bushido, are included. The volume includes an introduction by Edward Marx, full illustrations, and a section of notes on sources.

332 pages, Paperback

Published September 7, 2022

About the author

Yoné Noguchi was an influential Japanese writer of poetry, fiction, essays, and literary criticism in both English and Japanese. He was the father of the sculptor Isamu Noguchi.