The Life of an Amorous Woman (好色一代女, Kōshoku ichidai onna) is a Japanese short novel[1] by Ihara Saikaku which depicts the ukiyo ("floating world") of Edo period Japan.

[3] The Life of an Amorous Woman is written in the first person from the female protagonist's perspective, and shows, in contrast to Ihara's previous works, the darker and materialistic side of kōshoku ("passion").

She was born as the daughter of a family of court nobles, but lost her privileged status and fell through the ranks of both the nobility and the pleasure quarters, first as the mistress of a daimyō, then as a courtesan, and then finally as a common streetwalker.

[5] She is successively wife, court lady, courtesan, priest's concubine, mistress of a feudal lord, and streetwalker.

[3] The Life of an Amorous Woman was published in English in 1963 as part of a collection of stories by Ihara, translated and edited by Ivan Ira Esme Morris.