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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Spotlight Advanced. I'm Alice Sirasari and.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm Andrew Davis. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting.

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<v Speaker 2>It is easier for people to understand no matter where

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<v Speaker 2>in the world they live.

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<v Speaker 1>A great wave rises in the ocean. Three small wooden

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<v Speaker 1>boats float below it. There are people in these boats,

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<v Speaker 1>but we cannot see many of them. The ocean waves

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<v Speaker 1>are so high these block the sailors from being seen.

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<v Speaker 1>The sailors we can see hold on for their lives.

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<v Speaker 1>Far past the sailors, a mountain rises. There is snow

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<v Speaker 1>at its top. The mountain is the same color as

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<v Speaker 1>the waves. It even looks as if it is one

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<v Speaker 1>of them, but it is solid, unmoving.

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<v Speaker 2>This is a description of a famous painting. It is

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<v Speaker 2>called the Great Wave off Kanagawa by Katsushika Hokusai. Great

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<v Speaker 2>Wave is an excellent example of a Japanese art style

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<v Speaker 2>called ukiyoa. This name translates to pictures of the floating world.

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<v Speaker 2>These pictures are a style of printed art. Today's Spotlight

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<v Speaker 2>is on the floating world of Japanese printmaking.

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<v Speaker 1>Ukiyoa is a unique style of art from Japan. Japanese

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<v Speaker 1>artists created its images through a method called woodblock printing.

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<v Speaker 1>To create a woodblock print, an artist would first paint

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<v Speaker 1>an image. Another person would cut the image into a

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<v Speaker 1>piece of wood. Then they would cover the image in paint.

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<v Speaker 1>They would place paper on top of the wood, then

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<v Speaker 1>they would press down. This would copy the image from

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<v Speaker 1>the wood to the paper. It was a low cost

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<v Speaker 1>way to create many versions of a single image.

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<v Speaker 2>Japan was not the only country to use woodblock printing.

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<v Speaker 2>Many other cultures also used this kind of printing, but

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<v Speaker 2>the conditions that created ukiyoa were special. What historians today

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<v Speaker 2>called ukiyoa began during Japan's Edo Period. This was a

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<v Speaker 2>period of time between sixteen oh three and eighteen sixty eight.

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<v Speaker 2>During this period, strong military leaders called shoguns ruled Japan.

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<v Speaker 2>These rulers stopped foreigners from entering the country. People from

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<v Speaker 2>other countries could not trade with Japan and Japanese these

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<v Speaker 2>people could not leave their country. The Edo period was

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<v Speaker 2>a time with few wars, and many people made their

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<v Speaker 2>way to the Japanese capital. The name of the capital

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<v Speaker 2>was Edo.

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<v Speaker 1>In its time, Edo became the most populated city in

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<v Speaker 1>the world. By seventeen hundred, one million people lived in Edo.

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<v Speaker 1>Traders or merchants who lived there became wealthy. Some became

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<v Speaker 1>so wealthy that they did not need to work. They

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<v Speaker 1>spent their time in the Edo entertainment district. These were

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<v Speaker 1>areas filled with theaters, places to eat, and places to

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<v Speaker 1>buy sex. People from Edo called these areas ukiyo. It

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<v Speaker 1>meant the floating world. Asiriyoi was a Japanese writer who

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<v Speaker 1>lived during the Edo period, He wrote about these places

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<v Speaker 1>in his book Tales from the Floating World.

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<v Speaker 3>Living only for the present, enjoying the moon, the snow,

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<v Speaker 3>the flowering trees and the leaves, singing songs, drinking alcohol,

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<v Speaker 3>enjoying yourself, just floating and concerned by thoughts of poverty,

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<v Speaker 3>care free, like a vegetable carried along with the river current.

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<v Speaker 3>That is what we call ukiyo.

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<v Speaker 2>These wealthy traders wanted art to make their homes beautiful,

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<v Speaker 2>but they did not want traditional Japanese art. They wanted

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<v Speaker 2>art that looked like their lives. They wanted art that

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<v Speaker 2>reminded them of the Ukiyo. Artists began to meet this demand.

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<v Speaker 2>At first, these artists painted views of the Ukiyo, but

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<v Speaker 2>they soon found printing much easier. They could make hundreds

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<v Speaker 2>of copies of the same picture, and they could sell

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<v Speaker 2>these prints at a price most traders could pay.

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<v Speaker 1>Hishikawa Moronobu was one of the first artists of Ukiyoa.

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<v Speaker 1>Moronobu's style was special and the subjects of his prints

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<v Speaker 1>were different. Before artists often painted the lives of nobles

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<v Speaker 1>and warriors, but Moronobu's work showed real life in the

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<v Speaker 1>entertainment districts. He painted beautiful women playing instruments. His woodcuts

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<v Speaker 1>showed actors from kabuki theater performances. These prints showed sumo wrestlers,

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<v Speaker 1>sex workers, and tea house mistresses. But Moronobu did not

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<v Speaker 1>make his princes realistic. The prince did not look like

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<v Speaker 1>a photograph. These showed a special style.

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<v Speaker 2>Most other Ukyoe artists followed Moronobu's example. They printed views

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<v Speaker 2>from life and from history, but they also improved on

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<v Speaker 2>his method. One of the most important improvements was the

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<v Speaker 2>use of line. Line is one of the basic elements

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<v Speaker 2>of art. It is the part that gives a piece

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<v Speaker 2>of art its shape. The line in Maronubu's art often

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<v Speaker 2>curved or flowed. Later artists expanded this element. They filled

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<v Speaker 2>their prints with graceful curving lines.

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<v Speaker 1>Soon Ukiyowa began to change. More people became interested in

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<v Speaker 1>this form of art, and new masters of the art

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<v Speaker 1>form appeared. Katsushika hoku Sai was one of these masters.

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<v Speaker 1>Hoku Sai's work was similar to Moronobu's in some ways,

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<v Speaker 1>but printers of his period used more colors. These prints

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<v Speaker 1>were also more detailed. Hokusai himself studied art from Europe

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<v Speaker 1>and the Americas. He used many of their methods in

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<v Speaker 1>his work. He played with light and darkness. These methods

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<v Speaker 1>made his art seem more real.

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<v Speaker 2>Hokusai also showed different subjects and earlier printers. His Great

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<v Speaker 2>Wave is an excellent example. Before Houkusai u ki yoe,

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<v Speaker 2>artists mostly created work about the ukio, but Hokusai's work

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<v Speaker 2>showed the beauty of nature. He painted work showing mountains, animals,

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<v Speaker 2>and the sea. Hokusai's work was so popular that other

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<v Speaker 2>painters followed his example.

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<v Speaker 1>Ukiyowa changed art both in and out of Japan. It

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<v Speaker 1>influenced many artists in the Western world. Artists such as

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<v Speaker 1>Vincent van Go and Claude Monet took inspiration from what

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<v Speaker 1>they saw French artist en Ri de delous La Trek's

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<v Speaker 1>posters show this Japanese style. These artists contributed to Art Nouveau,

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<v Speaker 1>an artistic movement it started in France. Its painters took

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<v Speaker 1>Ukiyoa's bent lines, but they used these lines in a

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<v Speaker 1>new way.

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<v Speaker 2>By eighteen ninety, uki Yoi's popularity had decreased in Japan.

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<v Speaker 2>The country permitted trade with other countries in eighteen sixty eight.

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<v Speaker 2>This brought new technology and new ideas. These ideas grew popular.

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<v Speaker 2>Many believed that uki yoi was old fashioned. People still

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<v Speaker 2>produced uki yoi, but it was no longer a part

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<v Speaker 2>of the larger culture.

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<v Speaker 1>But Ukiyoa's influence is still strong, its style changed. Western

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<v Speaker 1>art prints like the Great Wave off Kanagawa still inspire artists,

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<v Speaker 1>and in some places people still learn the traditional way.

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<v Speaker 1>Nakayama Maiguri is the director of the Adachi Institute for

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<v Speaker 1>woodblock Prints. This organization still uses ukioa methods, it also

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<v Speaker 1>creates new woodblock art. Nakayama spoke to nipon dot com

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<v Speaker 1>about the future of ukiyoa.

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<v Speaker 4>We are trying to show people how ukiyoe can make

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<v Speaker 4>our lives better. We produce woodcut prints from works by

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<v Speaker 4>present artists. This is one important way of making Ukiyoe

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<v Speaker 4>seem more contemporary in the twenty first century.

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<v Speaker 2>What is your favorite style of art? How would you

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<v Speaker 2>describe it? You can leave a comment at www dot

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<v Speaker 2>Spotlight English dot com. You can also find us on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram,

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<v Speaker 2>and x You can also get our programs delivered directly

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<v Speaker 2>Spotlight English app.

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<v Speaker 1>The writer of this program was Dan Christman. The producer

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<v Speaker 1>was Mitchyosaki. The voices you heard were from the United

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<v Speaker 1>Kingdom and the United States. All quotes were adapted for

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<v Speaker 1>this program and voiced by Spotlight. This program is called

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<v Speaker 1>Images of the Floating World.

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<v Speaker 2>We hope you can join us again for the next

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<v Speaker 2>Spotlight program. Goodbye,