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This work analyzes the image Europe presented to Japan, deliberately or otherwise, from the mid-16th century to the end of the 18th century. It covers developments in Japanese culture and civilization during 300 years of interaction between Japanese and Europeans, including Dutch merchants, Spanish Catholic missionaries, and German and Portuguese Jesuits. The author examines not only Europeans' influence on Japan but also the unique Japanese interpretation of European culture. This perspective offers a prism through which Europe may be viewed and frequently sheds light on facets of European civilization of which not even the Europeans, at the time, were aware. The text covers topics such as art history, theology, philosophy, political and social history, and even the history of medicine.