36 Views of Mount Fuji (Hokusai)

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For the artist Andō Hiroshige's "36 Views of Mount Fuji", see 36 Views of Mount Fuji (Hiroshige).

36 Views of Mount Fuji (富嶽三十六景, Fugaku Sanjūrokkei^?) is an ukiyo-e series of 46 large, color woodblock prints by the Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849). The series depicts Mount Fuji in differing seasons and weather conditions from a variety of different places and distances. It actually consists of 46 prints created between 1826 and 1833. The first 36 were included in the original publication and, due to their popularity, 10 more were added after the original publication.^[1]

While Hokusai's 36 Views of Mount Fuji is the most famous Ukiyo-e series to focus on Mount Fuji, there are several other series with the same subject, including 36 Views of Mount Fuji, by Hiroshige, and 100 View of Mount Fuji, also by Hokusai. Mount Fuji is a popular subject for Japanese art due to its cultural and religious signifigance. This belief can be traced to the The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, where a goddess deposits the elixir of life on the peak. As Henry Smith explains, "Thus from an early time, Mt. Fuji was seen as the source of the secret of immortality, a tradition that was at the heart of Hokusai's own obsession with the mountain."^[2]

The most famous single image from the series is widely known in English as The Great Wave off Kanagawa (神奈川沖浪裏, Kanagawa-oki nami-ura^?), although a more correct translation might be, "Off Kanagawa, the back (or underside) of a wave." It depicts three boats being threatened by a large wave while Mount Fuji rises in the background. While generally assumed to be a tsunami, the wave was probably intended to simply be a large ocean wave.

Each of the images was made through a process whereby an image drawn on paper was used to guide the cutting of a wood block. This block was then covered with ink and applied to paper to create the image. The complexity of Hokusai's images includes the wide range of colors he used, which required the use of a series of blocks for each of the colors used in the images.

№	Image	Name	Japanese	Transliteration
1		The Great Wave off Kanagawa	神奈川沖浪裏	Kanagawa-oki nami-ura
2		Mount Fuji in Clear Weather (also known as Red Fuji)	凱風快晴	Gaifū kaisei
3		A Shower Below The Summit	山下白雨	Sanka hakū
4		Fuji seen through the Mannen bridge at Fukagawa	深川万年橋下	Fukagawa Mannen-bashi shita
5		The Fuji seen from the Mishima Pass	東都駿台	Tōto sundai
6		The coast of seven leagues in Kamakura	青山円座松	Aoyama enza-no-matsu
7		Senju in the Musashi Province	武州千住	Bushū Senju
8		Tama River in the Musashi Province	武州玉川	Bushū Tamagawa
9		Inume pass in the Kai Province	甲州犬目峠	Kōshū inume-tōge
10		Fujimi Fuji view field in the Owari Province	尾州不二見原	Bishū Fujimigahara
11		Asakusa Honganji temple in the Eastern capital	東都浅草本願寺	Tōto Asakusa honganji
12		Tsukada Island in the Musashi Province	武陽佃島	Buyō Tsukuda-jima
13		Shichiri beach in Sagami Province	相州七里浜	Soshū Shichiri-ga-hama
14		Umegawa in Sagami Province	相州梅沢庄	Soshū umezawanoshō
15		Kajikazawa in Kai Province	甲州石班沢	Kōshū Kajikazawa
16		Mishima pass in Kai Province	甲州三嶌越	Kōshū Mishima-goe
17		Lake Suwa in the Shinano Province	信州諏訪湖	Shinshū Suwa-ko
18		Ejiri in the Suruga Province	駿州江尻	Sunshū Ejiri
19		The Fuji from the mountains of Tōtōmi	遠江山中	Tōtōmi sanchū
20		Ushibori in the Hitachi Province	常州牛掘	Jōshū Ushibori
21		A sketch of the Mitsui shop in Suruga street in Edo	江都駿河町三井見世略図	Kōto Suruga-cho Mitsui Miseryakuzu
22		Sunset across the Ryōgoku bridge from the bank of the Sumida River at Onmayagashi	御厩川岸より両国橋夕陽見	Ommayagashi yori ryōgoku-bashi yūhi mi
23		Sazai hall - 500 Rakanji temple	五百らかん寺さざゐどう	Gohyaku-rakanji Sazaidō
24		Tea house at Koishikawa. The morning after a snowfall	礫川雪の旦	Koishikawa yuki no ashita
25		Shimomeguro	下目黒	Shimo-Meguro
26		Watermill at Onden	隠田の水車	Onden no suisha
27		Enoshima in the Sagami Province	相州江の島	Soshū Enoshima
28		Shore of Tago Bay, Ejiri at Tōkaidō	東海道江尻田子の浦略図	Tōkaidō Ejiri tago-no-ura
29		Yoshida at Tōkaidō	東海道吉田	Tōkaidō Yoshida
30		The Kazusa Province sea route	上総の海路	Kazusa no kairo
31		Nihonbashi bridge in Edo	江戸日本橋	Edo Nihon-bashi
32		Village of Sekiya at Sumida River	隅田川関屋の里	Sumidagawa Sekiya no sato
33		Bay of Noboto	登戸浦	Noboto-ura
34		The lake of Hakone in the Sagami Province	相州箱根湖水	Sōshū Hakone kosui
35		The Fuji reflects in Lake Kawaguchi, seen from the Misaka pass in the Kai Province	甲州三坂水面	Kōshū Misaka suimen
36		Hodogaya on the Tōkaidō	東海道保ケ谷	Tōkaidō Hodogaya
37		Honjo Tatekawa, the timberyard at Honjo	本所立川	Honjo Tatekawa
38		Pleasure District at Senju	従千住花街眺望の不二	Senju Hana-machi Yori Chōbō no Fuji
39		Tōkaidō Shinagawa	東海道品川御殿山の不二	Tōkaidō Shinagawa Goten'yama no Fuji
40		Nakahara in the Sagami Province	相州仲原	Sōshū Nakahara
41		Dawn at Isawa in the Kai Province	甲州伊沢暁	Kōshū Isawa no Akatsuki
42		The back of the Fuji from the Minobu river	身延川裏不二	Minobu-gawa ura Fuji
43		Ono Shindon in the Suruga Province	駿州大野新田	Sunshū Ōno-shinden
44		The Tea plantation of Katakura in the Suruga Province	駿州片倉茶園の不二	Sunshū Katakura chaen no Fuji
45		The Fuji from Kanaya on the Tōkaidō	東海道金谷の不二	Tōkaidō Kanaya no Fuji
46		Climbing on Fuji	諸人登山	Shojin tozan

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Nagata, Seiji (1999). Hokusai: Genius of the Japanese Ukiyo-e. Kodansha, Tokyo.
• Smith, Henry D. II (1988). Hokusai: One Hundred Views of Mt. Fuji. George Braziller, Inc., Publishers, New York. ISBN 0807611956.

[edit] External links

• Hokusai's 36 Views of Mount Fuji
• A short biography of Hokusai including a section on the 36 Views of Mt. Fuji series.
• Jim Breen's ukiyo-e page on Hokusai and the 36 Views
• 葛飾北斎の富士山・富嶽三十六景 (Japanese)