Yet 1870 was a long time ago. Nearly 150 years later, much of Hearn’s description has changed. Japan still has some glimpses of the culture that it once had. Reverence for ancestors can still be found. Around 35% of the population still identifies as Buddhist. But one might say arguably say that the culture Japan now exports to the rest of the world is far from the bucolic image Hearn wrote about. And in many ways, far removed from the morality Hearn once praised it for.