The term “Edo” refers to both a time period and a geographical location. In terms of time, the Edo period began in 1603 when Tokugawa Ieyasu secured victory at the Battle of Sekigahara and officially established the Edo shogunate. It ended in 1868 with the Meiji Restoration, which overthrew the shogunate. Geographically, Edo was the former name of Tokyo before the Meiji Restoration.
The term “ukiyo” (pronounced fushi in Mandarin) originally derived from the Buddhist concept of ukiyo (pronounced youshi in Mandarin), meaning “the world of trouble and sorrow.” However, during the Edo period, as urbanites pursued lives of pleasure, ukiyo became an important term that represented the idea of enjoying the present moment and seeking entertainment. These fleeting-yet-beautiful moments became a frequent theme in ukiyo-e prints,which today serve as lasting tributes that allow us to remember the glories of life in the Edo period.
Over the long course of the two and a half centuries between the Edo period’s beginning in 1603 and its end in 1868, stability gradually came to Japanese society. City dwellers in Kyoto, Osaka, and Edo became the main movers behind creativity in urban culture and the arts, in which ukiyo-e played an important role.
To showcase the beauty of Edo's ukiyo aesthetic, this exhibition gathers rare and valuable works from domestic and international collections,including folding screens, handscrolls, woodblock prints, and illustrated books. The exhibition is divided into four sections, each presenting the joys and charms of Edo urban life: Riverside Splendor, Metropolitan Moments,the Joy of Travel, and Border-Transcending Exchanges.