Lafcadio Hearn was born June 27, 1850 off the coast of Greece. He was raised in Dublin, educated in England, and spent his early adulthood traveling through Cincinnati and New Orleans. He was an influential author, professor, and academic who dedicated his life to the study of Japanese culture. He arrived in Japan in 1890 and quickly found employment as a teacher through his friendship with Basil Hall Chamberlain. Hearn’s fascination with Japanese folk lore and religion exposed him to Hasegawa’s Fairy Tale series, and in letters to Chamberlain he continually asks about his tales, and eventually is put into direct contact with Hasegawa, who paid him $20 for each story (Letter from Basil Hall Chamberlain to Lafcadio Hearn [June 20, 1894]). Hearn and Hasegawa’s business motivations were very different, leading to disagreements over both the illustrations and literary contents of the stories (Some New Letters and Writings of Lafcadio Hearn, p. 320). Hearn was not fluent in Japanese, and likely relied on his friendships, students, and his Japanese wife Koizumi Setsuko, for his stories (Sharf). He produced a total of five stories for Hasegawa, and while their business relationship quickly fizzled out, they remained in casual correspondence until at least 1902, two years before Hearn’s death (Some New Letters and Writings of Lafcadio Hearn).