Patrick Lafcadio Hearn (1850-1904), also known as Koizumi Yakumo after gaining Japanese citizenship, was an author, best known for his books about Japan. He is especially well-known for his collections of Japanese legends and ghost stories, such as Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things. Hearn was born in Lefkada, one of the Greek Ionian Islands. He was the son of Surgeon-major Charles Hearn (of King's County, Ireland) and Rosa Antonia Kassimati, who had been born on Kythera, another of the Ionian Islands. In 1890, Hearn went to Japan with a commission as a newspaper correspondent, which was quickly broken off. It was in Japan, however, that he found his home and his greatest inspiration.

作為近代西方有名的日本通，小泉八雲的名字在日本廣為人知。他雖然是愛爾蘭裔希臘人，但在日本生活瞭十四年，直至生命的終點。受瞭東方民族與宗教充滿魅力的文化影響，小泉八雲習慣於從民俗與情感方麵入手，去解釋、透視日本人的靈魂。在十四年裏，他花瞭無數心血來研究日本民族的傳統和國民性，研究日本的文學、藝術、宗教、神話，用生花妙筆寫下瞭多部有關日本的著作，如《陌生日本的一瞥》（1894）、《遠東的未來》（1895）、《異國風情及迴想》（1898）、《靈之日本》（1899）、《暗影》（1900）、《日本雜錄》（1901）、《骨董》（1902）、《怪談》（1904）等。這些著作使他成為一麵西方人透視日本的鏡子，也為他在世界文學史上取得瞭一席之地。