浮うき世よ

noun

fleeting life; transient world; floating world

Buddhist-influenced term for the impermanent, ever-changing world of human existence. Often associated with the Edo-period pleasure-seeking culture (ukiyo-e, etc.).

• 浮うき世よの義ぎ理りはつらいものだ。

  The obligations of this fleeting world are hard to bear.

• 浮うき世よ絵えは江え戸ど時じ代だいの浮うき世よを描えがいている。

  Ukiyo-e depict the floating world of the Edo period.

noun

sad world; world of grief and worry

Only when written 憂き世

Emphasizes the sorrowful aspect of life; often written 憂き世. More literary and less common in modern speech.

• 憂うき世よのならいとはいえ、つらいことばかりだ。

  Though it's the way of this sad world, it's nothing but hardship.

noun

this world; the world of the living; present life

Refers to the mundane, everyday world as opposed to the afterlife or a spiritual realm. Often used in contrast with あの世.

• 浮うき世よに未み練れんはない。

  I have no lingering attachment to this world.

• 浮うき世よとあの世よの境さかい目め。

  The boundary between this world and the next.

noun

red-light districts; pleasure quarters

Specifically refers to the entertainment and brothel districts of the Edo period, a subset of the broader 'floating world' concept.

• 吉よし原わらは江え戸ど随ずい一いちの浮うき世よだった。

  Yoshiwara was Edo's foremost pleasure quarter.