Abstract

In this paper Iwould like to take into consideration three fundamental issues concerning the intriguing rapport between Japan and Europe. First of all it seems fundamental to define the concept of "luxury product", a concept that is difficult to define in itself. The second issue is the very contemporary debate about the rapport between Eastern and Western world. The recent confrontation among some scholars offers a great deal of argument and renewed an older debate. The third issue is the social and economic development of the Japanese economy and society in itself, for while it is true that there was a consumer revolution in the West during the 17th and 18th centuries, it is also undeniable that the interpretation of a backward Japan, closed to Western influence, founded on the basis of a rural and feudal society has been profoundly renewed and reversed by the most recent historical literature.