"We live only for the moment, in which we admire the splendour of the moon light, the snow, the cherry blossom and the colours of the maple- leaves. We enjoy the day, warmed by wine, without allowing the poverty which stares us in the face to restour our sobriety. In this drifting- like a pumpkin carried along by the current of the river- we do not allow ourselves the discouraged for a moment. This is what is called the floating, fleeting world"

asai ryoi: Tales from the Floating World of Pleasure, Kyoto 1661