Presented here are woodblock prints categorized as ukiyo-e. Use the prints tab in the toolbar above to navigate to all artists and other genres or visit recent print additions to see all newly added prints.
Ichikawa Ichizo III as Dekiboshi no Sankichi
(Ichikawa Ichizo)
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No. 41, Nojiri, Distant View of the Ina River Bridge
(Yonju ichi, Nojiri, Inakawa-bashi enbo)
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The Story of Otomi and Yosaburo
(Otomi Yosaburo [no] hanashi)
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no. 3, Sukiyagashi in the Eastern Capital
(Toto sukiyagashi)
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no. 15, Noge and Yokohama in Musashi Province
(Musashi noge Yokohama)
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no. 20, The Entrance Gate at Enoshima in Sagami Province
(Sagami enoshima iriguchi)
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Ichigaya Hachiman Shrine
(Ichigaya Hachiman)
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Paulownia Plantation at Akasaka
(Akasaka Kiribatake)
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Koume Embankment
(Koumezutsumi)
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Kumano Junisha Shrine, Popularly Known as Juniso
( Tsunohazu Kumano Junisha zokusho Juniso)
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Fireworks at Ryogoku Bridge
(Ryogoku oohanabi no zu)
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no. 12, Moon Above the Sea at Daimotsu Bay; Benkei
( Daimotsu kaijo no tsuki; Benkei)
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Fashionable Ide Yamabuki
(Furyu Ide Yamabuki)
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Edo Flowers Traveling as far as the Islands [Enoshima]
(Shima kakete [moude] hana no Edo tabi)
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Toyooka of Okamoto House flanked by Sagawa and Okiku of Sanotsuchi House
(Okamotoya uchi Toyooka, Sanotsuchiya uchi Okiku, Sanotsuchiya uchi Sagawa)
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Matsuzaka-ya
(Matsuzaka-ya)
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The Wife's Habit of Wanting to Wear Something as Soon as She Looks at It
(Miru to kitagaru wa nyubo no kuse)
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Association of Women's Hair Stylists
(Fujin sokuhatsu-kai)
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Ukiyo-e is defined in different ways; literally it means pictures ('e') of the floating world ('ukiyo'), a term derived from a Buddhist concept pertaining to the fleeting nature of life. But during the Edo period (1615-1868), ukiyo acquired a more nuanced meaning: the impermanence of our existence became a justification to indulge in the pleasures and entertainments that are available at this fleeting moment (for a price). As such, the 'floating world' encompassed the pleasure quarters, houses of assignation, teahouses, restaurants, leisure boats, and the theater districts; that is to say, the playgrounds of the urban sophisticates. Ukiyo-e, images of these pleasures, were marketed to the residents and visitors in the flourishing capital city of Edo and mercantile center of Osaka. With time, the term ukiyo-e would expand to refer to a genre of art, primarily woodblock prints, produced in the 17th through the 19th centuries depicting a wide array of subjects including kabuki actors, sumo wrestlers, bijin (beauties), meisho (famous places), musha (warriors), and kacho (birds and flowers).
![Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III) Umeyashiki Plum Garden [at Kameido]](artistimages/10-5385sm.jpg)
![Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III) Actors Ichikawa Ichizo III as detchi [apprentice] …](artistimages/10-3970sm.jpg)
![Tsukioka Yoshitoshi Warm, An Urban Widow of the Kansei era [1789-1801]](artistimages/10-4344sm.jpg)
