This collection of 20 essays examines cultural encounters between -- and within -- China, Japan and the West. Rather than engaging in the theoretical debate of the cultural concepts as such, the authors present new research on a wide range of topics, from linguistics and literature to the worlds of sociology and political science. Despite the diversity of topics and approaches, the common focus is on the processes of cultural interaction and the dynamics of reception and communication. Celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Institute of East Asian Studies at the University of Aarhus, Denmark, this book includes contributions by scholars associated with the institute, as well as by scholars from Europe, America, China and Japan who have been temporarily attached to it.