Sir, - We read in the Japanese newspapers with profound shock of the plan to demolish Yeats's house at Rathfarnham. Yeats is widely revered here, not only for his close connections with this country, but as one of the great poets of the English language. As president of IASIL-Japan, I wish to register the deep sadness scholars and students in Japan feel at the present prospect. While having no wish to intervene in a matter which is the concern of Irish people, we join our many friends in Ireland in the hope that the authorities will recognise their own best interests. - Yours, etc.,
Prof Ken'ichi Matsumura, Jindaiji, Mitaka-shi, Tokyo, Japan.