With Japan’s opening to the West in the 19th century, travellers bring back art objects and engravings in Europe. Japonism overwhelms the artists imagination as a reaction against academism, and influences the avant-gardes, leaving it’s mark on the Impressionists, the Nabis or the Fauves… Through the writings of artists, writers, gallerists, reviewers, travellers and merchants of those days, this documentary traces the major events of this Japanese wave in the arts, and highlights the connections between Japanese art and western remarkable pieces of art.