Floating World Pleasure-seeking lifestyle and culture in Japan during Tokugawa Shogunate (r – 1868), particularly during its “Golden Age” of later 17 th and early 18 th cents., referred to as Ukiyo Emblem of Tokugawa clan

Tokugawa background Tokugawa shoguns ruled via form of centralized, feudal government, helped through various samurai houses (daimyo) and lower vassals (tozama) who were previous enemies or new allies (“Edo Period”: Wikipedia) shoguns had power over emperor, court, and religious orders; established extensive code of laws to control daimyo houses as well (e.g., feudal lords spending every second year in Edo) other classes consisted of peasants (80% of population), merchants below them, and outsiders at bottom (e.g., entertainers and prostitutes) Japan a fairly closed country at this time but some minimal interaction with westerners, largely in form of Dutch traders who brought books on scientific and medical advancement in Europe during 17 th and 18 th cents. (this exchange of knowledge known as rangaku [Dutch studies]) adoption of neo-Confucianism as dominant legal and ethical philosophy by 17 th cent., allowing for greater emphasis on secular world and “mass culture,” in conjunction with growth of merchant class and luxury areas such as Yoshiwara district of Edo, and Ukiyo lifestyle

Ukiyo background “floating world” defined as early as 1661 in Asai Ryoi’s Tales of the Floating World: “…living only for the moment, turning our full attention to the pleasures of the moon, the snow, the cherry blossoms and the maple leaves; singing songs, drinking wine, diverting ourselves in just floating, floating…” (“Ukiyo-e”: Wikipedia) woodblock prints of floating world known as genre of ukiyo-e, popular by late 17 th cent. in Edo’s metropolitan culture and originating with drawings of Hishikawa Moronobu in 1670s; original subject of ukiyo-e was city life but gradually came to include landscapes too many artists/publishers of ukiyo-e supported themselves financially by creating shunga (more pornographically explicit “underside” of ukiyo-e art) ukiyo-e drawings often used as illustrations in literature of the time or as posters for actors in kabuki theater (i.e., drama emphasizing song and dance, with variety of social classes mixing at performances; both male and female roles were played by men after mid 17 th cent., with some actors also available as prostitutes; opposite of this is traditional Japanese, “No drama” [that is serious and minimalist])

Ukiyo-e pictures Utagawa Kunifusa’s Playing Sugoroku at a Heated Table, c. 1830

Saikaku background began literary career as haikai (comic linked-verse) poet in Osaka, city of his birth, advocating poetic reform to free it of previous, rigid conventions, an attitude that was criticized after death of his young wife (followed soon after by death of blind child), he went travelling to different cities, visiting slums, theaters, prostitutes, peddlers, etc., making use of observations in his often ironic and dream-like prose, such as Koshoku ichidai onna (Life of a Sensuous Woman) with his ukiyo-zoshi (“tales of the floating world”), Saikaku set standard for other writers in the genre and was given nickname “orando [Holland] Saikaku” for colorful wonders of world and nonconformity displayed in his fiction Drawing of Ihara Saikaku, later 17 th cent.

Courtesan background sex workers during Edo Period were known as yujo (“woman of pleasure”), whereas the oiran was both entertainer and sex worker, often becoming a celebrity outside of a city’s pleasure district and setting trends for art and fashion among wealthy (“Oiran”: Wikipedia) at top of oiran chain was the tayu, a high-rank courtesan considered suitable even for daimyo emergence of more modern and less elaborate geisha by 1760s eventually eclipsed oiran in popularity and set new trends in fashion (geishas were known strictly as entertainers, in contrast to earlier oiran) Tokyo Geisha, c. 1870s Oiran preparing herself for a client, print by Suzuki Haronubu (1765)

Links “Tokugawa Art”: Indiana University “Ukiyo-e”: Wikipedia “Edo Period”: Wikipedia Pictures of the Floating World: YouTube