Citizens’ Group Works to Preserve House of Educator Who Supported Lafcadio Hearn in Matsue

The Yomiuri Shimbun

12:39 JST, March 19, 2026

MATSUE — A citizens’ group in Matsue has been engaged in efforts to preserve the former residence of Sentaro Nishida (1862–97), an educator who supported Lafcadio Hearn, a Meiji-era (1868-1912) writer known for his ghost stories.

On Sunday, the anniversary of the death of Nishida, a memorial service to honor Nishida was held for the first time.

Nishida is the model for the educator portrayed by actor Ryo Yoshizawa in serial morning drama “Bakebake” (“The Ghost Writer’s Wife”), now airing on NHK. The drama is based on the life of Hearn, also known as Yakumo Koizumi in Japanese, and his wife Setsu Koizumi. Hearn is famous for his work “Kwaidan,” a collection of Japanese ghost stories.

Taking advantage of the popularity of the drama, the citizens’ group aims to repair and utilize the aged house.

Nishida was born in Matsue. While fluent in English and showing promise, he was unable to go to college for financial reasons and remained in the city. Nishida served as vice principal at the present-day Shimane Prefectural Matsue Kita High School.

He supported Hearn, who was posted to the school as an English teacher, both professionally and personally, and died of tuberculosis at age 34. In the drama, Yuichi Nishikori, played by Yoshizawa, is depicted as supporting an English teacher, a character modeled after Hearn.

The house where Nishida lived from age 18 until his death was largely unchanged while his descendants lived there, and it then stood vacant for many years. Many historical materials related to Hearn remain inside. To preserve them, the group established the association Machinaka Plan in the city in June last year and began relevant activities. According to the association, the house has been receiving 5 to 10 visits per day since the drama started in autumn.

Machinaka Plan launched full-scale activities to give impetus to the use of the house.

On March 1, the association launched a crowdfunding campaign to cover the costs of repairing the house, raising about ¥1.5 million in five days.

One of his descendants living in Hyogo Prefecture brought the ihai mortuary tablet of Nishida to the memorial service on March 15. About 20 people attended the ceremony, including members of the association and the Hearn Society, a group which has continued to honor and study Lafcadio Hearn.

Katsuki Imaoka, the association’s chairperson, introduced an excerpt from Nishida’s diary at the event, in which Hearn is frequently mentioned. After the memorial service, an incense-burning ceremony in which the public was allowed to participate was held.

“Without his encounter with Nishida during his days in Matsue, Hearn would never have been able to become a writer [of ghost stories]. Nishida’s presence was significant. We want to widely disseminate his achievements at his former house, which also served as a hub for information exchange and cultural interaction,” Imaoka said.