ukiyo-e

American  

[yoo-kee-oh-ey, oo-kee-yaw-e] / yuˈki oʊˌeɪ, ʊˈki yɔˈɛ /

noun

1. a genre style of painting and printmaking developed in Japan from the 17th to the 19th centuries and marked by the depiction of the leisure activities of ordinary people.

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ukiyo-e British  

/ ˌuːkiːjəʊˈjeɪ /

noun

1. a school of Japanese painting depicting subjects from everyday life

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Etymology

Origin of ukiyo-e

1895–1900; < Japanese, equivalent to uki-yo transitory world ( uki float + yo world) + ( w ) e picture (perhaps < Middle Chinese; compare Chinese huà )

Example Sentences

One room contains four giant paneled canvases measuring more than 10-by-7 feet, with Murakami’s interpretations of work by the ukiyo-e masters Kitagawa Utamaro and Torii Kiyonaga.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 18, 2026

The genre of Japanese prints called ukiyo-e, meaning “images of the floating world,” first arose in the 17th century and was often distinguished by city scenes, sumo wrestlers and geishas.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 21, 2025

But it was not only artists like Edgar Degas, Vincent van Gogh and Mary Cassat who were moved by artworks such as Katsushika Hokusai’s and Utagawa Hiroshige’s early 19th-century ukiyo-e woodblock prints.

From New York Times • Feb. 11, 2021

Utamaro was a draughtsman who contributed prodigiously to the production of ukiyo-e, the prints that depicted the gracious women of the floating world.

From Washington Post • Apr. 14, 2017

Her later inspirations include the Japanese woodblock print style known as ukiyo-e — “It was an instant love,” she says of the distinct style — and, more recently, following her contemporaries on social media.

From The Verge • Jun. 4, 2016