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UtsushiandUtsuroi:imprintandTransience
AccordingtoHearn,whatwecallCsoul’isasort
ofCcompositeofrecollections’;animageofghostly
personalitiesinwhichthecharacteristicsofmany
familiarfacesaresuperimposedtoformamemory
andinterblendedbyouraffectionfortheml6Schol-
arshavealreadytracedtheinfluenceofSirFran-
cisGalton’s(1822-1911)ideaoftheCcomposite
portrait’(1879)inHearnlGaltonhadestablished
aCportraitoftypeandnotofindividual’bysuper-
imposingmultipleportraitphotographsonasingle
facelWhileinsistinguponthepossibilityofheredi-
tarysuccessionofone’stalentintermsofeugenics
(inparticularinhisHereditaryGenius,1869),Gal-
tonalsodiscoveredastatisticaltendencyofCreturn-
ingtotheaverage’:insteadofexaggeratingpeculiar
oddities,thesuperimpositionofcharacteristicsin
successiveoperationstendstoneutralizethephysi-
ognomytoanaveragelEccentrictraitsthatwould
characterizethetypicalfaceofacriminal,forex-
ample,cannotbedetectedinthesuperimposition
ofsuchfaceslOnthecontrary,criminalityseems
tosublimatedintheprocessoftransmigration/
metempsychosislThisremindsusofanotherghost
storymasterpiecebyHearn,Mujnatheface-lessl
Thelackofcharacteristicsultimatelyreducesthe
spirit’sfacetoanegg-likeplanesurfacewhichcom-
pletelylacksinpersonalitylThehorrorstemsfrom
thetotallackofdistinguishablefeaturesl
NishidaKitarô(1870-1945),adistinguished
modernJapanesephilosopher,didnotfailtograsp
thisparticularityinLafcadioHearnlHewritesas
follows(mytentativetranslation):
23
ill.1.statueoftheMonkHôshi,seijû-jiTemple,courtesyof
shincho-shaPublishingCo.ltd
Hearnwasawriterwithmysticalinsight,
whosawspiritualityatworkbehindeveryphe-
nomenonlHenotonlyfeltthepulsationsof
thousand-yearlifeunderneathofoursimplefeel-
ingorsentiment;healsograspedvitalitiesofthe
ancestralsoulineachofthephysicalexpressionsl
Ourpersonalityisnotanindividualmatterbut
acompositeofgenerationsofpersonalitieslFrom
thebottomofourbodythefluxoflifefromour
progenitorsrisesuplOurbodyisnothingbut
theextremelimitofthepillarofendlessspirits
stemmingfromtheprimordialpastlThushe
meditatesintheindigooftheMexicanBaythe
azureofthejoyfulsummerskyofpastcenturies;
inthesky-burningcrimsonlightinthetropical
evehefeltthevolcaniceruptionsoftheimmemo-
rialpastaswellastheragingfiresintheforest;
6Hearn(1889),asimilarremarkcanalsobefoundin
Hearn(cal1890;1894)l
ill.2.MorimuraYasumasa,Self-Portraitwithbandagedear,
1985,courtesyofMorimuraYasumasa
