The Japanese art of ukiyo-e originated in the very metropolitan Edo (Tokyo) when the political and military power was concentrated in the hands of the shoguns.  During the Tokugawa shogunate (1603-1868), the shogun required the daimyo (lords) and their samurai to spend time in Edo every other year.   This edict drove the growth of Edo's arts and entertainment industry, servicing first the daimyo and their samurai, then eventually, the growing middle class.  The industry was called ukiyo - the floating world.

Since the average citizen's mood was a buoyant one, unlike the heavy atmosphere of the troubled middle age, the word ukiyo-e came to mean the picture of the buoyant world or picture of the floating world.  The meaning and the art incorporate the common man's connection to the pleasures of Kabuki, restaurants, geisha and courtesans, teahouses, and so on.

The early Edo period prints were simple drawings and the explosive demand was met with efficiency - the development of the wood-block print.

Works by superstar artists like Utamaro and Sharaku were posters which advertised theatre performances, brothels, portraits of popular actors, and beautiful teahouse girls (Edo supermodels?).  The popular subjects were pictures of bijin (beautiful women), kacho (birds and flowers), the kabuki theater, sumo, meisho (famous views), scenes from history and myth, as well as abuna-e and shunga (erotica).

This sophisticated world of urban pleasures was also energized by the traditional Japanese love of nature.  Ukiyo-e artists like Hokusai and Hiroshige have had an enormous impact on landscape painting all over the world.

Here's an example of a meisho print by Hiroshige --  the view through the Kaminarimon temple gate in the Asakusa district of Edo. Although the temple has significantly changed since Hiroshige's time, it is still recognizable to tourists.  Meisho images, including Hokusai's 36 views of Mt. Fuji, exerted a strong influence on Impressionism.

The earliest ukiyo-e date to the 17th century. They continued to be produced until after the arrival of Perry's Black Ships. Once contact with the West was established, Japanese ukiyo-e artists started to incorporate western methods and subjects into their prints, just as the appearance of ukiyo-e in Europe influenced the Impressionist and Art Nouveau movements. Even artists treating Japanese themes, such as Yoshitoshi, show the influence of western art. Traditional ukiyo-e declined throughout the Meiji period (1868-1912), and was supplanted by the "new prints" (shin-hanga) and "creative prints" (sosaku-hanga) of the Taisho (1912-1926) and Showa (1926-1989) periods.

The following ukiyo-e prints in my collection are not widely available on the Net. The first two by Hiroshige are from the 1855 Tokaido series Gojusan Tsugi Meisho Dzuye. There will be more information about them on my Hiroshige page <under construction>. The third print is by Kunisada (Toyokuni III).
 
 

Okabe	Kusatsu	Kunisada

• For the A&E industry, Sprint has Drums, the coolest product from any telecommunications company.
• Start your overseas travel research and planning at Fodors.
• The San Jose Mercury has the best postings of the coolest jobs in Northern California.
• MuayThai IS the best Striking Art, if you must resort to weaponless violence.
• Fortunately, I can just pull my card to feed myself; but, just in case I need to hunt for it, I'll get my tools from Ruger.