<Li> Cuckoo and Azaleas, Hokusai, 1828 </Li> <Li> Princess Takiyasha Summons a Skeleton Spectre to Frighten Mitsukuni, Kuniyoshi, c. 1844 </Li> <P> Ukiyo - e is a genre of Japanese art which flourished from the 17th through 19th centuries . Its artists produced woodblock prints and paintings of such subjects as female beauties; kabuki actors and sumo wrestlers; scenes from history and folk tales; travel scenes and landscapes; flora and fauna; and erotica . The term ukiyo - e (浮世絵, / u. ki. yo. e /) translates as "picture (s) of the floating world". </P> <P> Edo (modern Tokyo) became the seat of government for the military dictatorship in the early 17th century . The merchant class at the bottom of the social order benefited most from the city's rapid economic growth . Many indulged in the entertainments of kabuki theatre, courtesans, and geisha of the pleasure districts . The term ukiyo ("floating world") came to describe this hedonistic lifestyle . Printed or painted ukiyo - e images of this environment emerged in the late 17th century and were popular with the merchant class, who had become wealthy enough to afford to decorate their homes with them . </P>

This style of printmaking means pictures of the floating world