"The Great Wave off Kanagawa"is the most famous of the ukiyoe works, and is one of the best known of the

One of the 46 ukiyoe works of Katsushika Hokusai's famous ukiyoe collection "Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji".

Kanagawa is closer to Mount Fuji than to Edo, with the sea closer to Edo.

It is a masterpiece in the series, which together with "Fine Wind, Clear Morning

" and "Thunderstorm Beneath the Summit" are called the three greatest roles.

↓↓↓Fine Wind, Clear Morning

↓↓↓Thunderstorm Beneath the Summit

Commentary

Fuji, which had been a symbol of Japan since that time, is deliberately drawn small to show the contrast between it and the rough seas.

There are also three ships depicted in the painting, which are believed to have been transporting fish, etc.

A total of about 30 people can be identified on the three ships.

The most striking aspect of this work is the depiction of waves. They appear to be grasped by human hands, or like snow falling on Mount Fuji.

Even though Hokusai exaggerated the size of the waves in his painting, the height of the waves is so high that some people think it could be a tsunami.

In Hokusai's day, there were no large tsunamis, but they may have been heard about.

He also painted similar compositions before this painting was done, and I suspect these productions may have produced a masterpiece.

↓↓↓Waves in Hokusai's 1803 work, Ganagawa Okimoto Mokuro no Zu, which deals with the same subject of waves and ships off Kanagawa. It deals with the same subject of waves and ships off the coast of Kanagawa.

↓Waves in Hokusai's 1805 painting Oshikori wa Tōtsū Sen no Zu. Influenced by Dutch etchings, this painting deals with the subject of ships and waves.

Impact Abroad

This work traveled to Europe in the late 1870s and influenced European artists, including the painter Van Gogh, who praised it.

The influence of Japanese art on Western culture came to be known as Japonism.

Japanese woodblock prints have been a source of inspiration for artists of many genres, especially the Impressionists.

The picture is expected to be used on the reverse side of Japan's new 1,000 yen bills, which are scheduled to be issued in fiscal year 2024.

About the author,　Katsushika Hokusai

Hokusai was born in Edo (now Tokyo) and was a student of the ukiyo-e artist Katsukawa Shunsho. He learned all kinds of painting techniques from the Kano school, Chinese and Western painting, and produced many pictures of famous places (ukiyoe landscapes) and actors' pictures.

"Fine Wind, Clear Morning" is a work by Hokusai when he was 72 years old.

He produced more than 30,000 works in his lifetime. He was ambitious from a young age and was outstanding in his prints as well as in Ukiyoe.

In his later years, he also studied and experimented with copperplate printing and glass painting. He was also interested in oil painting, but he failed to achieve this in his long 90 years of life.

Hokusai was also famous for his many moves, which are believed to be as many as 93 times. He once moved three times a day.

It is said that he moved three times in one day because he was so focused on painting that he moved every time his room became dirty or rotten.

When he finally moved into his old house for the 93rd time, his room was still as messy as when he moved out, so he took this opportunity to stop moving.