The average citizen's mood of Edo period (1603-1867) was
an extremely buoyant and joyful one --not the transitory, heavy atmosphere
characteristic of the troubled middle age. The word "ukiyo-e" means
"the picture of buoyant world" and incorporates in its meaning the common
man 's daily pleasures , such as Kabuki plays, Geisha houses, and so
on. The forerunner of Edo period prints were simple drawings that gradually
developed into a wood-block, thus satisfying the growth of the demand.
Printmaking is composed of the division of labor of many
craftsmen, such as painters. engravers and printers, and need at least
the same number of different wood blocks as colors. often more than
twenty wood-blocks. At first. there was just a one-color wood block
prints with brush-added color in the 1710s, then two or three colors
wood-block prints evolved in the 1740s, and finally in the 1760s the
multi-color wood-block prints-called "nishiki-e"(brocade picture) was
invented and continued to the early Meiji period in 1890s. Through ukiyo-e
we can see and learn images of the customs, history, and manner of
the past Japan.
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