浮 世
Japanese, for 'floating world', what 18th century sophisticate aristocracy of Nihon coined as a phrase to describe the city centers of theatre, dance and entertainment with its actors and theatrical performances, festivals and processions, Sumo and Surimono.
Similarly, 'ukiyo-e', 'depiction of the the floating world' was the flamboyant aesthetic style of the early 19th century which focused on the portryal of these performances, the audiences and their social circles; this style was later adapted by 'belle epoche' European artists such as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Degas and Vincent Van Gogh.
See Also:
- Ukiyo-e Society of America : www.ukiyo-e.org
- Japanese politics : fixed and floating worlds / Timothy Hoye. Upper Saddle River, N.J. : Prentice Hall, c1999.
- Images from the floating world : the Japanese print : including an
illustrated dictionary of Ukiyo-e / Richard Lane. -- New York : Putnam, c1978