Ukiyo-e: In Their Own Words

"Living only for the moment, savoring the moon, the snow, the cherry blossoms and the maple leaves, singing songs, drinking sake, and diverting oneself just in floating, floating... this is what we call the floating world."

"From the age of six I had a passion for copying the form of things, and from about fifty my works were frequently published... At one hundred and ten, every dot and every stroke will be as though alive."

"I envy the Japanese the extreme clearness which everything has in their work. It is never tedious, and never seems to be done too hurriedly... their work is as simple as breathing."