Pt. I. The Kibyoshi (a study) -- Introduction : a little yellow comicbook -- 1. The floating world in An'ei-Tenmei Edo -- 2. The blossom of pulp fiction -- 3. Manga culture and the visual-verbal imagination -- 4. The rise and pratfall of the Kibyoshi -- Pt. II. Translations -- A note on reading backwards -- A note on translating the Kibyoshi -- 5. Those familiar bestsellers -- 6. Playboy, roasted a la Edo -- 7. The unseamly silverpiped swingers