Museum of Lafcadio Hearn (Koizumi Yakumo)

Today I visited the small museum in central Kumamoto dedicated to the life of Lafcadio Hearn, a Greek/Irish national who loved Japan so much that be became a naturalized citizen and changed his name to Koizumi Yakumo. It's a nice little museum and I went several times last year.

Sadly, the museum remains closed following the earthquake. I spoke to the gentleman there who let me come in and he showed me the damage sustained. It's not too bad really - a few cracks in the walls and ceilings, and sliding doors/partitions that have popped out of place. The big wooden shrine that Hearn had installed in the ceiling (which he bowed and clapped to every morning) had been thrown from its shelf and tore holes in the partition opposite, but thankfully all the glass cabinets and showcases seemed to be undamaged.

Across the street from the museum is the Tsuruya shopping mall, which sustained a fair bit of damaged in the earthquake. The street between them has all been dug up and repair works are taking place at the moment - the man in the museum said that he'd heard it could take two or three months to complete it, and that the museum may also have to remain closed until the shopping mall opens again.

You can reach the museum by the side entrance, and while the museum is not open I was encouraged to have a look in the pretty little garden, which is undamaged. Though saying that, if you speak a bit of Japanese and want to take a look for yourself, I'm sure the kind man that works there would be more than happy to show you around.

Click Here for More Information About the Lafcadio Hearn Museum