"... [paying] full attention to the pleasures of the moon, the snow, the flowers of the cherry-tree and leaves of the maple, singing songs, drinking wine and taking delight only in floating, floating without worrying at all about the poverty screaming in our faces... floating along the river current like a dry marrow husk..."

This is how Asai Ryoi described the meaning of the word ukiyo in his Tales of the floating world.