Kokoro: Hints and Echoes of Japanese Inner Life: Free Audiobook and Listening Guide

Kokoro: Hints and Echoes of Japanese Inner Life, 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 Kokoro: Hints and Echoes of Japanese Inner Life by Lafcadio Hearn. Read in English by Expatriate. In an introductory paragraph, Lafcadio Hearn declares his intention: "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."" The result is a highly eclectic collection of stories, diary entries, cultural essays, and collected traditional texts that illustrate not only the state of Japanese society in the 1890s but also the endlessly fascinating issue of the intersection of cultures as demonstrated in a Westerner's interpretations of what he observed in Japan. As much is revealed about the Western mind as the Japanese mind whenever such an intersection occurs. - Summary by Expatriate

Recording facts

• Recording title: Kokoro: Hints and Echoes of Japanese Inner Life
• Author credits: Lafcadio Hearn
• Language: English
• Original MP3 tracks: 25
• Listed recording duration: 7:57:17

Catalogue topics

• Japan
• east meets west

Opening tracks: first 24 of 25

1. 01 - At a Railway Station — 7:51
2. 02 - The Genius of Japanese Civilization, Pt. 1 — 22:10
3. 03 - The Genius of Japanese Civilization, Pt. 2 — 18:14
4. 04 - A Street Singer — 8:15
5. 05 - From a Traveling Diary — 27:49
6. 06 - The Nun of the Temple of Amida — 16:42
7. 07 - After the War — 25:25
8. 08 - Haru — 12:14
9. 09 - A Glimpse of Tendencies, Pt. 1 — 22:03
10. 10 - A Glimpse of Tendencies, Pt. 2 — 20:26
11. 11 - By Force of Karma — 16:53
12. 12 - A Conservative, Pt. 1 — 22:00
13. 13 - A Conservative, Pt. 2 — 26:21
14. 14 - In the Twilight of the Gods — 12:59
15. 15 - The Idea of Pre-Existence, Pt. 1 — 23:47
16. 16 - The Idea of Pre-Existence, Pt. 2 — 22:30
17. 17 - In Cholera-Time — 9:41
18. 18 - Some Thoughts About Ancestor-Worship, Pt. 1 — 24:43
19. 19 - Some Thoughts About Ancestor-Worship, Pt. 2 — 24:43
20. 20 - Kimiko — 21:38
21. 21 - Appendix 1: Three Popular Ballads (Intro.) — 18:21
22. 22 - Appendix 2: The Ballad of Shuntoku-Maru — 22:18
23. 23 - Appendix 3: The Ballad of Oguri-Hangwan, Pt. 1 — 21:58
24. 24 - Appendix 3: The Ballad of Oguri-Hangwan, Pt. 2 — 23:50

Listen to this recording

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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.