ABSTRACT
The urban dweller (or visitor) could find entertainment in literally hundreds of forms. From ukiyo-e prints to ukiyo zoshi ("books of the floating world"), the pleasures of the floating world of the early modern Japanese city have been preserved. This chapter traces a whole calendar of seasonal activities, not mere natural events but cultural constructions and performances. The year began with a shrine visit, kites, battledores, shuttlecocks, and poetry card contests. The second month brought plum blossoms and Chinese poetry, the third the doll festival, and the fourth month parties under the cherry trees—including parades of courtesans in new kimonos, ostentatious gifts from patrons displaying their wealth by proxy. The fifth month witnessed the Iris festival, thought to inculcate boys with martial spirit due to the swordlike shape of the leaves, and accompanied by koinobori, carp-shaped streamers waving above the walls of houses.
