In 1600 the Tokugawa family took over the government of Japan, ending a century of civil war. For the next 250 years the Tokugawa regime preserved peace and order by establishing a highly regulated society, virtually cut off from contact with the outside world.

Wealthy men of the middle and upper classes in this society, excluded from any significant political activity, centered their lives on pleasure. Every great city had its "pleasure quarter," a district of licensed prostitution where a man could spend a fortune entertaining and being entertained by women. This was the "floating world" -- a world of momentary enjoyment to be seized before it faded. The connection between sex and money was discreetly blurred in this world: only a wealthy man could associate with the famous courtesans of the pleasure quarter, but the wealth alone was not enough; one must also display wit, elegance, and sensitivity to all forms of beauty.