So many people have never heard of this delightful man. My godmother gave me his little book of "Japanese Fairy Tales" when I was very, very small, and I have loved his work ever since. "Chin Chin Kobokama" and "The Boy Who Drew Cats" are my favorites from that tiny book. I told "The Boy Who Drew Cats" and "Mimi-Nashi-Hoichi" to my daughter's seventh grade class. Not exactly - I memorize high points and certain turns of phrase and fill in the gaps (I can't remember Hearn word-for-word). Even the boys' eyes got big and round at the story of Hoichi. "Oh, forgive me! It was my grievous fault! For in my neglect I trusted my acolyte to write the holy texts upon your ears!"
That and the story of the people without faces on the high road are about the creepiest to tell . . . the boys loved the story about the samurai who became a priest and met the houseful of demons whose heads left their bodies and flew about to kill people -- and he took a head with its teeth clamped on his sleeve from the house as a "housewarming gift" (gotta love that sang-froid!)
Have you read any of his New Orleans sketches? His West Indian work is beautiful too - "Les Porteuses" is the most atmospheric story of a fragment of culture that vanished when Mt. Pelee blew up and wiped out St. Pierre in a few seconds -- sad, in retrospect, but a beautiful story.
Is he still remembered and respected in Japan?