Ono portrays the contempt from his son in law as an understandable trauma response to the horrors of war. There was also a great deal of hostility from the younger generation to the older. Taverns torn down men encouraged to kill themselves to atone for the sins of the Empire.
There was a relentless shedding of the past. Universal suffrage was introduced and human rights were guaranteed. Post war the Emperor lost all political and military power, and was made a symbol of the state. He talks of demolition by government, not Allied bombs. It is implied that its decay is deliberate and politically motivated. Still a place to drink and relax, but centred around a militaristic, Imperial aesthetic, meaning it remained acceptable to the Emperor and his Committees.Īfter the war, Ono’s Imperial pleasure district deteriorates. Ono’s favoured local pleasure district was for the soldier, the right-wing Imperialist more a group of bars than a real Floating World. There could also be a leftover feeling from his father’s disdain for art an attempt to prove that art can be a masculine, useful profession. Or he is simply astute and sees where tastes are turning. It is possible Ono changes due to sincere distaste for excess. By 1944, the pleasure districts were closed, and the formerly idolised Geisha either found employment through connections or were pressed into factory service. Even the high class and sophisticated Geisha struggled with declining income during the war. The advent of WW2 led to a disdain for frivolity, decadence, pleasure – everything the Floating World symbolised.
The word had connotations of being transitory, of the moment, capturing a transgressive, bohemian lifestyle. These areas were home to Geisha, courtesans, kabuki and puppet theatres, teahouses, fashion boutiques, and festivals. The title refers to both a style of artwork, Ukiyo, and a lifestyle focused on the ‘pleasure districts’.
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