This book concludes Sumie Okada's trilogy concerning cultural relationships between Japan and the West. This volume discusses six Japanese authors (Soseki, Mishima, Akiko Yosano, Hiroshi Yosano, Endo and Murakami), analysing the encounter between their traditional Japanese group-consciousness and western individualism. It also covers Endo's student days in Lyon, and his relationship with the humanist Françoise Pastre, appending a moving account by her sister Geneviève.