Archive

2025The Floating World

Venue

Tsumagoi Bokujo, Tsumagoi, Gunma

Dates

October 9–13, five days

Five days, one longer than the year before. The art theme was the floating world. An aftermovie is online.

Ukiyo, the floating world, began as a Buddhist name for this life: brief, and full of suffering. In the Edo period, from 1603 to 1868, it shifted toward enjoying the moment because it passes, and it grew up with ukiyo-e, kabuki, and the pleasure quarters. The 2025 theme used that for a city that appears and vanishes, where joy is shared, and where fire, like the floating world, changes in a moment and still leaves a mark.