Astonishing
The first paragraph of Kishi Fumikazu 岸文和's Edo no enkinhō: ukie no shikaku 江戸の遠近法—浮絵の視覚 ("Edo perspective: visions of uki-e"):
In the mid-Edo period, during the reign of the eight shogun Yoshimune, an unusual kind of ukiyo-e called uki-e 浮絵 became popular. What was unusual about them was that they were drawn using Western geometrical perspective, creating a sense of deep space that "appears to sink inwards towards the background" [むかふへくぼみて見ゆ] against which foreground figures seemed to float, which was quite astonishing to the average Edoite of the time. How astonishing? As astonishing as the news that a man had been killed by an elephant, apparently [...]
That's pretty astonishing! It turns out that what Kishi is referring to is a contemporary scandal sheet that had "Uki-e published" (浮絵出版行事) listed as a headline alongside "Man returned from desert island tells tale of eating bizarre bird" (無人島帰国者喰於異鳥物語之事) and, yes, "Elephant kills man" (象殺人事).
Interesting factoid: Kishi argues that the Western perspective techniques probably arrived via China, specifically Suzhou prints 蘇州版画 using the technique, rather than directly from the west.
Avery:
What, I have to find the links to these awesome things myself? Grumble grumble...
http://dl.ndl.go.jp/search/searchResult?searchWord=%E6%B5%AE%E7%B5%B5