Giacomo Puccini's opera Madame Butterfly has enjoyed tremendous popularity in Europe and America since its debut in 1904; and has also inspired a global-level debate about whether the tragic heroine 'Cho-Cho-san' is based on a real-life model. As the setting of the opera, Nagasaki holds answers to this mostly ill-informed debate and yet has remained virtually silent on the topic, in large part because the story of Madame Butterfly was created by and for Westerners and evokes cultural stereotypes that are absurd if not repugnant to many Japanese. This book delves into the history of Nagasaki and into the literature from which the opera springs, based on a wide variety of primary sources in both Japanese and Western languages. It looks at the controversy about the identity of the opera¿s heroine and presents compelling evidence that in fact there was no real life Cho-Cho-san. Penetrating beyond the discussion of Madame Butterfly as a work of art, Burke-Gaffney discusses the opera in the context of its importance as a window on Japan¿s changing relationship with Europe and America from the seventeenth century through the post World War II period and as a vehicle for persisting misconceptions about Japan in particular and Asia in general. Finally, the book looks at the present state of Nagasaki sites related to the development of Madame Butterfly and demonstrates that despite the cultural disparities evoked by the opera, buried in the history of Nagasaki are many untold tales of true international romance and cooperation.