Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan was originally published in English but was later translated into several languages including Japanese and Polish.

[4] This changed with the beginning of the Meiji Era and the reopening of its trade barriers with the Western world, which had been exclusive only to Dutch markets before 1853.

[5] Lafcadio Hearn was one of the main contributors to the dissemination of knowledge about Japanese culture during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

[3] Hearn describes an image of Japan that is mysterious and which intrigues him, which reminds him of an ancient civilization spared by what he believes to be a "Western contamination", as synonymous with modernization.

[14] Hearn has been accused of painting a misleading and romanticized picture of Japan after the Western world started fearing Japanese imperialism, which harmed his reputation.

[12] Other authors (including Roy Starrs) are nuanced in their criticism and believe that although he exhibited Orientalist features, he had "treated Japan in general and Japanese women in particular with a gentlemanly respect and consideration".