Saikaku's Ukiyo: The Floating World

Ukiyo, also referred as The Floating World was a phenomenon that occurred through Tokugawa Japan during 1603- 1868. High segregation between high ranking samurais and low-ranking merchants lead to merchants going to Edo Japan to interact with pleasure brothels and the theater district to live in a "fantastical world" (Carey 16). Brothels are a place where woman and men, alike would enter a building to take part in sexual activities. Ukiyo-e, in short, was a place where men from all ranks and women indulge in their sensual desires. In the short story, Life of a Sensual Woman, Saikaku explore the detrimental effect this pleasure-seeking world can have on anyone through corruption of a possible bright future, abusive relationships that could result

Stockholm Syndrome, although debated in its integrity, is very present in this short story. By the time our protagonist reaches the head monk, she is already transfixed with the idea of Ukiyo, and pleasure seeking. She willingly transforms herself into a boy and goes from temple to temple offering her serves, or prostituting herself, for two gold pieces. However, she was miserable living with the head monk. She had described that she left no love in their sex, and had lost the will to live. Not to mention, her only contact to the outside world was through the monk since she was forced into living in a dug up hole in a corner in a living room. Living in this kind of environment, she is forced into isolation, which reinforces sensory deprivation. Sensory depriviation is a key to Stockholm Syndrome which is “the paradoxical development of reciprocal positive feelings between hostages and their captors” (canter, Price 378) Furthermore, she was the beck and call of the priest, and would have to have sex with him whenever he wished. These acts allow for the capturer, the monk, to introduce a giant power imbalance. He was obviously overpowering over her, which again are needed to establish Stockholm Syndrome. Nonetheless, being abused for a while, we can see that our protagonist started in embrace characteristics which can be found in Stockholm Syndrome. She began to think of him endearingly, longing for him to come back, and would be devastated when he would leave. This syndrome is a coping mechanism for the captive, however it is corrupting their brain into thinking positively about an atrocious event. Ukiyo lead her into an awful place where she began to form an abusive relationship and would have stayed there until she was old and barely living