Irland and Japan: two countries at the far extremities of the Eurasian landmass, one an underpopulated single island, the other a populous archipelago. Recently they were linked in anniversary celebrations for Lafcadio Hearn, Japan's great apologist from Ireland, who was born 150 years ago on June 27.
Yet despite vast differences and the huge distance separating them, there has been a mutual literary fascination for some time. As important as Hearn in this respect was the poet W.B. Yeats, the centenary of whose birth was marked here in 1965 by a Japanese scholar who had corresponded with him. There was a book ("Yeats and Japan," by Shotaro Oshima), there were commemorative events, and interest in Ireland grew.
This may have been partly a matter of gratitude -- to Yeats for being interested in Japan (or at least in a Japan of his imagination). If that was so, then the feeling was reciprocated and has continued. Irish poets have been regularly invited here in recent years, and the evidence of their visits can be found in new collections.
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