Short stories by a Japanese writer of the 17th century. Ihara Saikaku gained recognition and wide popularity among contemporaries, but a century later the government added them to the list of banned books. The desire for free expression of feelings, praised by Saikaku, contradicted the foundations of the feudal state. The full-blooded and vibrant world of earthly passions and pleasures, the colorful life of the Japanese city were recreated by Saikaku with such skill that, thanks to him, the entertainment genre of koseku-mono (love stories) reached the level of real literature. The famous Japanese "merry quarters" were not only a hotbed of vice, but also the center of the cultural life of the city, where the art of love was combined with theater, poetry, painting and music. These were islands of freedom within the strict framework of Tokugawa era samurai ethics. And Ihara Saikaku celebrated this indomitable world like no other. The book includes the most famous works of "Japanese Boccaccio". "Five Women who Gave Themselves Up to Love" are five Shakespearean novels about women who follow their hearts despite strict Confucian morality, at a time when adultery was punishable by death. "The Story of a Single Woman's Love Affairs" is the confession of a former courtesan who went from a sophisticated oiran to a street barker. And although fate had given her a chance to settle down more than once, her passion for lovemaking was stronger. The edition is decorated with genre engravings by Nishikawa Sukenobu.