The Japanese term for “pictures of the floating world” is ukiyo-e.
Written 浮世絵, ukiyo-e combines ukiyo, meaning “floating world,” with e, meaning “pictures” or “paintings.” The term became associated with the lively urban culture of Edo-period Japan, especially its theaters, pleasure districts, fashion, celebrity performers, and everyday entertainments.
Ukiyo-e developed during the 17th century and became especially popular through affordable woodblock prints. Artists such as Hishikawa Moronobu, Kitagawa Utamaro, Tōshūsai Sharaku, Utagawa Hiroshige, and Katsushika Hokusai created images of beauties, kabuki actors, landscapes, warriors, and scenes from daily life. The medium allowed designs to be reproduced in large numbers rather than existing only as unique paintings.
A frequent misconception is that ukiyo-e means only landscape prints or only woodblock printing. It also includes paintings, and its subjects were much broader than scenery. The “floating world” itself originally echoed a Buddhist idea of life’s impermanence, but in Edo Japan it took on a more pleasurable, worldly meaning tied to urban entertainment.