Selassie was known for his support for, and informal association with, the broader and loose 'Young Japanisers'. The grouping refers to an Ethiopian school of thought that arose in the early Twentieth Century which compared Ethiopia to Japan, and favored modernization that was similar to the Meiji Restoration; other intellectuals included Heruy's friend Tekle Hawariat Tekle Mariyam and Gäbre-Heywät Baykädañ. More than most, Heruy saw similarities between Japan and Ethiopia. These included that both had longstanding imperial lines, both had had "roving capitals", and both had resisted the West. He believed that Ethiopia and Japan needed to be more aware of each other as they both resembled each other in his opinion. That being said he recognized Japan was the more prosperous of the two and had more successfully modernized. His 1932 work "Mahidere Birhan: Hagre Japan" ("The Document of Japan") spelled out this philosophy.