Ihara Saikaku
In Japan, from the Edo period in the 1600s, books and illustrations were mass-produced by woodblock printing and spread among the common people. This is due to economic development and a very high literacy rate for the time. The literacy rate of the Japanese in the Edo period was almost 100% for the samurai class and 50% to 60% for the "chōnin" and "nōmin" (farmer) class due to the spread of private schools "terakoya". There were more than 600 rental bookstores in Edo, and people lent woodblock-printed illustrated books of various genres. The content of these books varied widely, including travel guides, gardening books, cookbooks, "kibyōshi" (satirical novels), "sharebon" (books on urban culture), "kokkeibon" (comical books), "ninjōbon" (romance novel), "yomihon", "kusazōshi", art books, play scripts for the kabuki and "jōruri" (puppet) theatre, etc. The best-selling books of this period were "Kōshoku Ichidai Otoko (Life of an Amorous Man)" by Ihara Saikaku, "Nansō Satomi Hakkenden" by Takizawa Bakin, and "Tōkaidōchū Hizakurige" by Jippensha Ikku, and these books were reprinted many times.