It was the world of kabuki actors, geisha and courtesans, tea houses, restaurants, festivals, fashionable clothes, beautiful landscapes and the everyday pleasures of city life. Essentially, it was popular culture.

The art associated with it became known as ukiyo-e, literally “pictures of the floating world”. These were generally woodblock prints and paintings produced for a growing urban population rather than exclusively for an aristocratic elite.

These weren't originally precious gallery objects. Many were relatively affordable, widely circulated images. People bought pictures of famous actors, fashionable women, beautiful places and popular entertainment in much the same way we might buy posters, magazines or photographs today.

The term ukiyo originally had Buddhist associations with the transience and impermanence of human existence. During the Edo period, however, the meaning was playfully turned around. Instead of dwelling on life's impermanence, the idea became essentially: if everything is fleeting, enjoy it while it lasts.

The Floating World was about living in the moment: fashion, theatre, beauty, food, sex, spectacle and pleasure. And this is probably why I love these prints so much.