The Golden Age of Edo culture came to an end with a strict reform called Kansei Reform, and the Age of Decadence arrived. The major concerns among the Shogunate were foreign affairs, instead of national policies.

There was an increasingly frequent menace of foreign intrusion. The freshness of the earlier cultural life was lost, and all feelings of freedomand mental dtatchment were swept away. An over-complex and twisted sort of art was welcomed, and people enjoyed this new type of culture. The culture continued until the end of the Edo period.

Among ukiyoe artists during this period were Utagawa Kunisada (1786-1864), Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1861), Keisai Eisen (1790-1848), Kikugawa Eizan (1787-1867), Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), and Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858).

Kunisada, Eizan and Eisen were well-known for their pitures of women. Although Kuniyoshi was from the same school was Kunisada, he was good at warrior prints, instead. The field of landscapes were perfected by Hokusai and Hiroshige.

• About Kunisada
• About Eisen
• About Kuniyoshi
• About Hokusai
• About Hiroshige