Introduction: Japan and Europe – some new perspectives

Japanese–European relations are a case of their own. They do not fit into the conventional model of intercontinental contacts marred by colonization and one-sided exploration. Today Japan disturbs the mind perhaps more than ever, because it appears so familiar while at the same time retaining certain peculiarities. Mutual perceptions have been ambivalent, but whether we speak of a ‘clash of civilizations’ or simply of effects of globalization, Europe's and Japan's mutual images as well as their roles are subject to change. This essay frames some new approaches presented in this focus under the headings of multilateralism, consumer's identities, and, entangled modernities'. It shows that transsocietal studies such as these can contribute to theory formation in their respective disciplines, and, on a more pragmatic level, it argues that mutual relations are no longer characterized by one-sided learning processes but by ‘fuzzy learning’ where both sides profit from each other's experiences.