Art History’s greatest romance is between two cultures: Japan and Europe.  After a period of Japanese isolation beginning in 1639 Japan opened itself to international trade in 1854. European artists were smitten by Japanese art and Japanese artists eagerly drank in the culture of the west. Artists like Monet, Whistler and Van Gogh were stupefied by the beauty and originality of Japanese art and without its influence masterpieces such as the Haystacks series, Starry Night or Whistler’s Mother may not exist. In Japan, twentieth-century developments in the arts (such as Japanese Surrealism and the films of Akira Kurosawa) were influenced by contact with Europe.