This paper examines the effects of the Japanese woodblock print Ukiyo-e or “pictures of the floating world” on modern design by investigating the influences of Japan on European artists and movements that took place. When Japan’s period of isolation came to an end European artists got their first taste of the Japanese style and people were obsessed. There were impressionists and post-impressionists in the late nineteenth century who found ukiyo-e fascinating. They applied techniques, colors, composition, and the like to their own works. There will also be a brief history of Japanese art, techniques of woodblock printing in Japan, the art of Ukiyo-e and some of its famous and most influential artists Katsushika Hokusai and Ando Hiroshige. It specifically examines the influence of ukiyo-e on impressionists, post-impressionists, and the Art Nouveau movement which ushered in the era of Modern Design. This data is from readings and research into ukiyo-e, impressionism, post-impressionism, and art nouveau.