Red Fuji, by Hokusai

Great Wave off Kanagawa, by Hiroshige

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Ukiyo-e“Pictures of the Floating

World”

What made woodblock prints so popular in early modern

Japan?• Mass production made them affordable

• They could be produced quickly

• More people living in cities with money to spend on prints

• Topics that appealed to average people

Image of the kabuki theatre

Edo Japan’s 4-class System

• Samurai - rulers, bureaucrats, officials

• Peasants - the largest segment of the population, involved in rural agriculture

• Artisan - usually urban, they made and built things

• Merchants - also usually urban, they sold and distributed things

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Black ink and hand-colored versions of prints by Moronobu (late 17th c.)

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Harunobu(mid-18th c.)

Utamaro

Sharaku

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Hiroshige Van Gogh

Hiroshige

Manet

Hokusai Monet