Drawing on his personal collection and experiences of living and working in Japan, Jim Walker talks about the visual culture of Japan and its consumption by Western societies. The historical and visual culture of Japan reflects the country's shifting focus and engagement towards other countries and cultures, which has resulted in a hybrid culture that often confuses the non-Japanese. The talk will consider these influences and how we continue to consume the visual and cultural history of Japan as if it was a natural resource and commercial commodity. This sense of re-consuming cultures is significant in understanding why Japan is often perceived as exotic, to the extent that there is a mythic Japan that has become a phantasmagorical projection of our imagination composed of fragments of manga, anime, film and traditional art forms.