What were Lafcadio Hearn's first impressions of Japan when he arrived there?

Lafcadio Hearn first visited Japan in 1890 while working as a journalist for Harper's magazine. At that time, Japan was little known in the West; it appeared to all the world as a strange, exotic land full of unusual customs which were poorly understood by outsiders. Hearn did not know it when he first set foot on Japanese soil, but he would, more than any other foreigner in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, come to be responsible for demystifying the Land of the Rising Sun for a Western audience.

Initially, however, Hearn's first impressions of the country were those we would expect from a Westerner totally unfamiliar with Japan. Hearn was deeply enchanted by his encounter with this strange new world in the East, yet, as with virtually all Western visitors, he was unable to initially fathom the sheer richness and depth of Japanese culture:

The country is . . . full of the strangest charm. Artistically it is one vast museum. Socially and naturally it is really a Fairyland. The first impression produced by the Japanese themselves is that of being among the kindest kind of fairies. . . . The religions seized my emotions at once, and absorbed them. I am steeped in Buddhism, a Buddhism totally unlike that of books—something infinitely tender, touching, naïf, beautiful. I mingle with the crowds of pilgrims to the great shrines; I ring the great bells; and burn incense—rods before the great smiling gods.

Hearn's initial impressions of Japan are similar to those of a tourist. He is positively overwhelmed with the exotic profusion of sights, sounds, and smells that assail his senses. However, his evaluation of Japanese culture is, at this early stage, somewhat shallow. Reading his words above, it almost seems as if Japan were some kind of giant theme park populated by charming little sprites. Hearn's description of the Japanese as "among the kindest kind of fairies" comes across as a tad condescending, expressing an attitude that most people today would find unacceptable.

Nevertheless, Hearn's impressions are very much of their time, a common reaction for someone who has just arrived in a strange land for the very first time without knowing much about the indigenous culture. However, the incredible excitement that Hearn must have felt bursts through his excited prose, placing us in his shoes and making us want to want to share in his experiences.

From Hearn's first impressions of Japan, we can understand why he came to develop such an intense fascination with Japanese life and culture. His engagement with Japan transformed over time from a breathless sense of wonderment to a deep, respectful appreciation of an ancient and endlessly engrossing culture.