English summary: For most of us, the terms geisha and samurai evoke a traditional image of Japan during the Edo period. Yetwe need to look beyond the stereotypes in order to grasp the transformations experienced by Japanese society between the seventeen and nineteenth centuries : these included the emergence of an urban way of life, the opening of the country to the rest of the world, and innovations in the fields of science, technology, and the arts. This book relates the history of an unprecedented cultural upheaval : the story of how a so-called "feudal" period turned out to be the crucible that produced modern-day Japan.Francois Mace is a university professor at INALCO and a specialist in the history of Japanese thought, particularly Shinto.Mieko Mace, who is a researcher at the CNRS, teaches the Japanese language and philosophy and is an expert in medical thought and epistemology. French description: Geisha et samurai: une image traditionnelle du Japon d'Edo. Mais au-dela des stereotypes, il convient de decouvrir les transformations qui caracterisent la societe nippone entre le XVIIe et le XIXe siecle: la naissance d'une vie urbaine, l'ouverture sur le monde, les innovations dans les sciences, les techniques et les arts... L'histoire d'un bouillonnement culturel sans precedent, ou comment une periode dite feodale s'avera le creuset du Japon moderne.