From the opening of trade with Britain in the 1850s, Japan occupied a unique and contradictory place in the Victorian imagination, regarded as both a rival empire and a source of exquisite beauty. Drawing on philosophy, psychoanalysis, queer theory, and a wealth of archival research, Grace Lavery explores the enduring impact of this dramatic encounter. Along the way, she analyzes the cross-cultural dialogue embedded in the operas of Gilbert and Sullivan, John Ruskin's art criticism, "Japanese vellum" luxury editions of Oscar Wilde, Michel Foucault's philosophy, and the films of Quentin Tarantino.