Edo: the floating world

In the closed, peaceful Japan of the Edo period, urban culture flourished – woodblock prints, kabuki, Rinpa and porcelain for the world.

The Tokugawa shogunate ruled Japan for more than 250 years of peace from Edo, present-day Tokyo. The country was almost entirely closed to the outside world; only the Dutch and the Chinese were allowed to trade, in Nagasaki.

In the cities a wealthy merchant class grew up. Its world of pleasure – theatres, teahouses and pleasure quarters – was called ukiyo, the floating world, and was depicted in colour woodblock prints, ukiyo-e, by Harunobu, Utamaro, Hokusai and Hiroshige.

The Rinpa school, with Sōtatsu and Kōrin, created decorative images in gold and bright colours. Itō Jakuchū painted roosters and flowers with astonishing precision, and porcelain from Arita – Imari and Kakiemon – was exported to Europe.