Ukiyo-e, if you are not familiar,  is a Japanese art form that was popular from 17th century  to 19th century Japan.  It basically consists of woodblocks used for mass production of pictures.  Ukiyo means floating world, and e means picture, so they were literally "pictures of the floating world."  They generally depicted daily life, landscapes, and beautiful people.

Ukiyoe prints are some of the most famous pieces of artwork from Japan.  Almost everyone has, at one time, seen Hokusai's "Big Wave" print featured above.  And portraits of the kabuki actors tend to crop up whenever a Japanese themed picture is needed.  The sharp contrasts of the images have a distinct style and have probably done a lot to influence manga artists of today.
5.  How to pronounce it
Okay, so it may seem like a simple word to pronounce, but it really isn't. You have to give it a few tries before it really rolls off your tongue. So try it a few times, quickly. If anything it is a great work out for your tongue. Here is a native saying it courtesy of our good friends at Forvo.com:

4. Some Ukiyo-e had Bewbs
Erotica wasn't as big of a taboo in Japanese art as it was in Western art. Although not often displayed in museums around the world, erotica was a part of ukiyoe art. And these drawings were not just for dirty minded pervs looking to get their kicks. They were actually quite common.

The style of ukiyoe depicting erotica was called shunga. And there are records of everyone from samurai to housewives purchasing and carrying shunga with them. Although not completely openly accepted (despite Western commenters attempting to portray otherwise), it wasn't completely against any religious morals like in the West.

Almost all of the major ukiyoe artists at one time created some kind of erotica. Even Hakusai, arguably one of the most famous woodblock artists created a series of prints that depicted a story of a woman making love to an octopus, which of course would never see the light of day in the 19th century West, and to be honest is a bit shocking to see in this modern era, even as art.
3. The major periods
Early Ukiyo-e (1670~1740)

Before around the 1670s, art was mostly limited to the nobility who had the kind of money to commission works of art, much like in the West.  Patrons usually liked to see pictures of things that reminded them of their wealthy, like wealthy people doing wealthy things.

But, once Japan was united and the Edo period began.  The merchant class found themselves making some serious yen, and there started being an interest in art, especially art that depicted every day things.  This merchant class had money, but it seems like they weren't exactly swimming it, so being able to mass-produce artwork with woodblocks, made prints cheaper and more affordable.

These first pieces of work were mostly in the style of what had come before.  They characterized by their use of only one color, typically black, and showed limited use of prospective, usually just sticking to 2D.  A lot of them focused on the human figure and ideals of beauty.

Beginning of Color Prints (1740~1780s)

Starting in the 1740s, ukiyo-e prints started to be printed with multiple woodblocks each using a different colored ink.  This somewhat complicated process led to more flexibility in creating different images.  Landscapes and more complicated scenes became more popular.

During this time, due to influence from the West, paintings started to take on more geometrical prospective.  The paintings, in particular Masanobu's works appeared a lot more 3 dimensional, something that we take for granted today, but was actually a major breakthrough back in the day.

The Peak and Popularization of the Genre (1780~1804)

This era brought on some of the greats like Utamaro and Sharaku who placed more emphasis on beauty and harmony.  Portraits also began to focus more on the head and torso of someone as opposed to the whole body.