"PICTURES OF THE FLOATING WORLD" In 17th Century Japan there arose a new and lively cultural style. This first "popular culture" flourished not among the ruling elite, but among the merchants and artisans of the major cities--Kyoto, Edo and Osaka, and especially in the pleasure or entertainment quarters of these cities. This culture came to be termed ukiyo, or "the floating world", a term "commonly taken to mean a world that was pleasurable precisely because it was constantly changing, exciting