The fifteen essays in this captivating volume treat the inner, rather than the outer, life of Japan. For this reason, they have been grouped under the title Kokoro, which can be translated as "heart," "spirit," or "inner meaning." Indeed, Lafcadio Hearn penetrates to the heart of things Japanese in "Kimiko," a portrait of a beautifu geisha; in "By Force of Karma," the story of a Buddhist monk; and in "A Conservative," a detailed description of a samurai. Longer essays like "The Genius ofJapanese Civilization" and "A Glimpse of Tendencies" sum up the author's feelings about his adopted country. Hearn aptly called the pieces in this volume "hints and echoes of Japanese inner life." Although much has changed since the days when Hearn fell in love with Japan, these "hints and echoes" still have a remarkable truth about them, for the Japanese spirit, or kokoro, has changed much less than the material conditions of Japanese life. It is Hearn's genius to have perceived what was quintessentially Japanese about Japan, and to have presented his findings so artistically to the West.