Floating World
Pleasure-seeking lifestyle and culture in Japan
during Tokugawa Shogunate (r. 1603 – 1868),
particularly during its “Golden Age” of later 17th
and early 18th cents., referred to as Ukiyo
Emblem of Tokugawa clan
Tokugawa background
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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 17th and 18th cents. (this exchange of
knowledge known as rangaku [Dutch studies])
adoption of neo-Confucianism as dominant legal and ethical philosophy by 17th
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
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“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 17th
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 17th 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
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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 17th cent.
Courtesan background
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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)
Oiran preparing herself for a client,
print by Suzuki Haronubu (1765)
Tokyo Geisha, c. 1870s
Links
“Tokugawa Art”: Indiana University
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http://www.indiana.edu/~ealc100/JArt1.html
“Ukiyo-e”: Wikipedia
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukiyo-e
“Edo Period”: Wikipedia
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edo_period
Pictures of the Floating World: YouTube
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pq_UTGcqw8