Abstract

The article analyses Giorgio de Marchis’s time as director of the Italian Cultural Institute in Tokyo, a position he held for two terms – from 1974 to 1978 and from 1982 to 1992. Over the course of these fifteen years, through the Institute’s activities, the scholar contributed to a better knowledge of Italian culture in Japan, and also fostered dialogue and exchanges between the two countries, promoting exhibitions of Japanese Art and Culture in Italy. The Edo period has been reconstructed through consultation of the valuable archives of the Giorgio de Marchis Bonanni d’Ocre Foundation in L’Aquila, as well as documentation held by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Historical and Diplomatic Archives. This preliminary study aims to show how de Marchis was able to convey an image of Italy as the producer of an innovative, dynamic culture capable of stimulating new interests in Japan.