ABSTRACT
There are to be found many references to Ancient Greece in most fields of Japanese arts and culture throughout the twentieth century. It is so deeply rooted that for many girls and boys in the West today, Greek heroes are having features and physical appearance set by Japanese animators and cartoonists. Should we conceive this as an example of how deep Westernization goes in Meiji through contemporary Japan, or does it point to the fact that classical culture is common good? To answer this question, I start with reframing the debate from a post-colonial perspective, before I focus on three examples of the reception of Greek culture in Japan that are not only fascinating for themselves, but offer three different patterns of assimilation. From a theoretical standpoint, the issue is to challenge the place of imagination in the construction of collective identities. As a conclusion, I elaborate on the concept of possession as a way to rearticulate imagination with plurality.
