Japan: An Attempt at Interpretation: Free Audiobook and Listening Guide

Japan: An Attempt at Interpretation, credited to Lafcadio Hearn, is available as a LibriVox volunteer audiobook. This guide identifies the recording, its source summary and its audio tracks.

About the work

The LibriVox catalogue summary, preserved with the recording, reads:

LibriVox recording of Japan: An Attempt at Interpretation by Lafcadio Hearn. Read in English by Julia Niedermaier. Greece-born Lafcadio Hearn spent decades of his life in Japan, even marrying a Japanese woman, thus becoming a Japanese citizen by the name of Koizumi Yakumo (小泉 八雲). He wrote many books on Japan, especially about its folklore. In this posthumously published book, he takes a closer look at Japan's religious history: How it developed from ancient beliefs into Shintoism, resisted suppression attempts by Buddhism and Christianity and how – despite efforts to westernize Japan during the era known as Meiji Restoration – it remained the basis for Japanese society. Even today, over 100 years after this book was written, some of the described traditions and fundamental ideas still exist. (Summary by Julia Niedermaier)

Recording facts

• Recording title: Japan: An Attempt at Interpretation
• Author credits: Lafcadio Hearn
• Language: English
• Original MP3 tracks: 24
• Listed recording duration: 13:58:18

Catalogue topics

• culture
• religion
• Japan
• society
• education

Track guide

1. 01 - Difficulties — 5:45
2. 02 - Strangeness and charm — 23:43
3. 03 - The ancient cult — 21:45
4. 04 - The religion of the home — 35:36
5. 05 - The Japanese family — 43:28
6. 06 - The communal cult — 46:56
7. 07 - Developments of Shinto — 45:22
8. 08 - Worship and purification — 38:42
9. 09 - The rule of the dead — 46:10
10. 10 - The introduction of Buddhism — 40:03
11. 11 - The higher Buddhism — 42:20
12. 12 - The social organization — 57:52
13. 13 - The rise of the military power — 40:10
14. 14 - The religion of loyalty — 35:24
15. 15 - The Jesuit peril - Part 1 — 32:43
16. 16 - The Jesuit peril - Part 2 — 37:41
17. 17 - Feudal integration — 41:06
18. 18 - The Shinto revival — 22:11
19. 19 - Survivals — 20:48
20. 20 - Modern restraints — 41:06
21. 21 - Official education — 41:43
22. 22 - Industrial danger — 22:47
23. 23 - Reflections — 41:12
24. 24 - Appendix: Herbert Spencer's advice to Japan — 13:44

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Source and rights

This is a record from LibriVox's official Internet Archive collection, with a public-domain licence recorded in its metadata. LibriVox's policy includes its catalogue summaries as well as its recordings. Its public-domain assessment follows United States law; copyright status can differ elsewhere. The summary and track facts are reproduced and reformatted from that record. Dates attached to the archive upload are not treated as original book publication dates.