Today I’m thinking of this historical low fantasy idea I’ve been developing on & off for a while. It’s set in the Japanese Edo period, following in the footsteps of Ihara Saikaku, Ueda Akinari, kabuki theatre & rakugo tales. The term is 浮世草子 or Ukiyo-zōshi (“books of the floating world”, floating world usually being the pleasure quarters), popular literature depicting the lives of common Japanese townspeople between the 1680s & 1770s.

Many were interconnected short story collections around a central theme, not unlike fiction Substacks. I wonder if my idea would make a good serial…

(image: “Cherry Blossom Season at Nakanocho in the Yoshiwara” by Utagawa Hiroshige)