Ukiyo-e is the term for a type of Japanese art that developed during the Edo or Tokugawa period (1615-1868). Consisting mostly of woodblock prints, Ukiyo-e depicted the pleasure and entertainment districts of great cities, such as Edo, Kyoto, and Osaka. These districts had come to be known as floating worlds (ukiyo) and thus, the word ukiyo-e can then be literally translated as pictures of the floating world. As an ancient Buddhist term that refers to life’s ephemeral and transitionary nature, ukiyo was initially associated with a sad connotation. This meaning, however, changed to one of excitement when the entertainment quarters acquired it as a name. Ukiyo’s definition perfectly describes the fleeting pleasures and constantly changing trends
