A historical construction. Copycat Japan -- The West and the invention of creation -- The denial, rejection, and sublimation of imitation -- No poaching -- Seen from Japan -- The logic of reflection in Nakai Masakazu -- A new place for imitation. Kishida Ryusei's portraits of Reiko, or, how can ghosts be at work? -- Kurosawa Akira's Ikiru, or, the impossibility of metaphor -- Araki Nobuyoshi's Sentimental journey-winter, or, eternal bones -- Miyazaki Hayao's Spirited away, or, the adventure of the obliques -- Conclusion.