this style of printmaking means pictures of the floating world
Ukiyo-e Ukiyo-e[a] is a genre of Japanese art which flourished from the 17th through 19th centuries. Its artists produced woodblock prints and paintings of such subjects as female beauties; kabuki actors and sumo wrestlers; scenes from history and folk tales; travel scenes and landscapes; flora and fauna; and erotica. The term ukiyo-e (浮世絵, /u.ki.yo.e/) translates as "picture[s] of the floating world".
Printing press The printing press with movable type was invented in East Asia, for a complex writing system, circa 1234[3][4]. The production of sorts (individual letters of type) was slow. Two centuries later, around 1440, the printing press was introduced into the Holy Roman Empire by the German Johannes Gutenberg, based on existing screw presses. Gutenberg, a goldsmith by profession, developed a printing system, by adapting existing technologies to printing purposes, as well as making inventions of his own. His newly devised hand mould made possible the precise and rapid creation of metal movable type in large quantities. Movable type had been hitherto unknown in Europe. In Europe, the two inventions, the hand mould and the printing press, together drastically reduced the cost of printing books and other documents, particularly in short print runs.