No other genre has influenced Japanese art, and in turn the view of Japan from abroad in general, as much as ukiyo-e, a term that translates as "pictures of the flowing world." These paintings, and woodblock prints in particular, depict in detailed scenes the life in Japan, from geishas and sumo wrestlers in the city to images of the countryside or coasts. The style coincides with the increasing urbanization of Edo (now Tokyo) under the rule of the Tokugawa shoguns.

Katsushika Hokusai (* probably on October 31, 1760 in Warigesui, today: Sumida, Tokyo; † May 10, 1849 in Henjōin) is the most prominent representative of ukiyo-e art with his complete works, but especially because of the most famous and most widespread Japanese artwork of all times, the Great Wave off Kanagawa. Here is one of his many masterpieces from another series of his: A Tour of Waterfalls in Various Provinces (Shokoku taki meguri). The individual wooden panels are carved in a long and tiresome process by hand to be used in the printing process later, one for each layer of color in the finished image. An art for the masses and general public, which also inspired all of Europe in the 19th century and early 20th century (Van Gogh, for example, was a huge "Japonisme" devotee).