Borrowing the Hills

In his story “A Conservative,” Lafcadio Hearn follows the life of a samurai’s son who grows up in the feudal world of the samurai, in a city “where no foreigner had ever been,” reaching manhood “in that innocent provincial life of Old Japan,” where “a young samurai might grow up exceptionally pure-minded and simple-hearted.” But the arrival of Commodore Perry’s black ships changes everything. From a British teacher, he learns English and meets a missionary who introduces him to the New Testament. He converts to Christianity and travels to Europe. What he finds surprises him: “That world had no faith.