The most enduring feature of Japanese culture, permeating it from antiquity to the present day, is the constant fascination with the fragility of nature and its eternal renewal. “Nothing remains perishable, everything changes.” This Zen rule allows us to find joy in what the moment brings us. This is the essence of ukiyo-e, the art of the Edo period: to capture images of the “ephemeral and flowing” world. Thus, palaces and monasteries were built from wood and paper, as well as the most simple huts. The soil underfoot, rice straw, and bamboo tubes were valued no less than varnishes and silks. Any action - be it a tea ceremony or an archery ritual - expresses the innermost feelings of the participants - both the host and the guests. This connection between the inner and outer is also emphasized in the layout of Japanese gardens, designed to become the habitat of the kami, the spirits of nature. This book tells about an amazing country, about how it is still faithful to its tradition of the cult of immortal beauty. Buddhist temples and secular architecture, paintings on ancient scrolls or on sliding partitions, wooden sculpture, ceramics, examples of calligraphy, woodcuts...180 color illustrations in this book introduce the reader to the art of the Land of the Rising Sun.