France and Japan have shared much in their long histories of artistic practice and production. France has been an important source of energy for Japanese intellectual endeavors, and the impact of French painting, literature, and thought on Japan, from even before the Meiji Revolution, cannot be overstated. Likewise, France has been stimulated by an image of Japan as “Other” and as a model of resistance to American cultural hegemony. The impact of Japanese prints on French (and European) art, the related artistic production collected under the heading of “Japonisme,” and the creative responses to Japanese poetic and dramatic forms are profound. Confluences details these exchanges and outlines the ground from which they proceed. In doing so, the authors elucidate much of the development of national and individual identities, especially as filtered through the artistic endeavors of a culture.

Doug Slaymaker is professor of Japan Studies at the University of Kentucky.