Ukiyo-e is the Japanese term used to describe "images"(e) of prints depicting everyday life and the spectacle of nature and translates as "pictures of the floating world".

It is a term linked to the Buddhist notion of the impermanence of all things and was ironically used in the 17th century to describe the "images"(s) of the moments of lightheartedness in everyday life. Ukiyo-e is a Japanese artistic movement of the Edo period, which began in the 17th century and lasted until the 19th, which saw famous artists such as Hokusai and lesser-known artists such as Kuniyoshi, Utamaro and Kunisada as protagonists.

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"Spirit of Japan" includes more than 400 works by the most important Ukiyo-e masters, coming from 20 museums around the world: Katsushika Hokusai, Kitagawa Utamaro, Utgawa Kuniyoshi, Utagawa Hiroshige, Yoshida Hiroschi, Kawase Hasui, Totoya Hokkei, Kiitsu Suzuki, Ando Hiroshige, Musaaki Shikibu, Tsuchiya Koitsu.