36 Views of Mount Fuji (Hokusai)

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The Great Wave off Kanagawa (神奈川沖浪裏 Kanagawa-oki nami-ura?) original print

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]

Contents

[edit] History

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 significance. 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 literal 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 (see Woodblock printing in Japan for further details). 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.

[edit] Prints

[edit] Original 36

These images are of modern facsimile prints made using the same techniques.

Image English title Japanese title
1 The Great Wave off Kanagawa 神奈川沖浪裏

Kanagawa oki nami-ura

2 South Wind, Clear Sky (also known as Red Fuji) 凱風快晴

Gaifū kaisei

3 Rainstorm Beneath the Summit 山下白雨

Sanka hakū

4 Under Mannen Bridge at Fukagawa 深川万年橋下

Fukagawa Mannen-bashi shita

5 Sundai, Edo 東都駿台

Tōto sundai

6 Aoyama Enza no Matsu 青山円座松

Aoyama enza-no-matsu

7 Senju, Musashi Province 武州千住

Bushū Senju

8 Inume Pass, Kōshū 甲州犬目峠

Kōshū inume-tōge

9 Fuji View Field in Owari Province 尾州不二見原

Bishū Fujimigahara

10 Ejiri in the Suruga Province 駿州江尻

Sunshū Ejiri

11 A sketch of the Mitsui shop in Suruga in Edo 江都駿河町三井見世略図

Kōto Suruga-cho Mitsui Miseryakuzu

12 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

13 Sazai hall - Temple of Five Hundred Rakan 五百らかん寺さざゐどう

Gohyaku-rakanji Sazaidō

14 Tea house at Koishikawa. The morning after a snowfall 礫川雪の旦

Koishikawa yuki no ashita

15 Shimomeguro 下目黒

Shimo-Meguro

16 Watermill at Onden 隠田の水車

Onden no suisha

17 Enoshima in Sagami Province 相州江の島

Soshū Enoshima

18 Shore of Tago Bay, Ejiri at Tōkaidō 東海道江尻田子の浦略図

Tōkaidō Ejiri tago-no-ura

19 Yoshida at Tōkaidō 東海道吉田

Tōkaidō Yoshida

20 The Kazusa Province sea route 上総の海路

Kazusa no kairo

21 Nihonbashi bridge in Edo 江戸日本橋

Edo Nihon-bashi

22 Barrier Town on the Sumida River 隅田川関屋の里

Sumidagawa Sekiya no sato

23 Bay of Noboto 登戸浦

Noboto-ura

24 The lake of Hakone in Sagami Province 相州箱根湖水

Sōshū Hakone kosui

25 Mount Fuji reflects in Lake Kawaguchi, seen from the Misaka Pass in Kai Province 甲州三坂水面

Kōshū Misaka suimen

26 Hodogaya on the Tōkaidō 東海道保ケ谷

Tōkaidō Hodogaya

27 Tama River in Musashi Province 武州玉川

Bushū Tamagawa

28 Asakusa Hongan-ji temple in the Eastern capital [Edo] 東都浅草本願寺

Tōto Asakusa honganji

29 Tsukuda Island in Musashi Province 武陽佃島

Buyō Tsukuda-jima

30 Shichiri beach in Sagami Province 相州七里浜

Soshū Shichiri-ga-hama

31 Umegawa in Sagami Province 相州梅沢庄

Soshū umezawanoshō

32 Kajikazawa in Kai Province 甲州石班沢

Kōshū Kajikazawa

33 Mishima Pass in Kai Province 甲州三嶌越

Kōshū Mishima-goe

34 Mount Fuji from the mountains of Tōtōmi 遠江山中

Tōtōmi sanchū

35 Lake Suwa in Shinano Province 信州諏訪湖

Shinshū Suwa-ko

36 Ushibori in Hitachi Province 常州牛掘

Jōshū Ushibori

[edit] Additional 10

Image English title Japanese title
1 Goten-yama-hill, Shinagawa on the Tōkaidō 東海道品川御殿山の不二

Tōkaidō Shinagawa Goten'yama no Fuji

2 Honjo Tatekawa, the timberyard at Honjo 本所立川

Honjo Tatekawa

3 Pleasure District at Senju 従千住花街眺望の不二

Senju Hana-machi Yori Chōbō no Fuji

4 Nakahara in Sagami Province 相州仲原

Sōshū Nakahara

5 Ōno Shinden in the Suruga Province 駿州大野新田

Sunshū Ōno-shinden

6 Climbing on Fuji 諸人登山

Shojin tozan

7 The Tea plantation of Katakura in Suruga Province 駿州片倉茶園の不二

Sunshū Katakura chaen no Fuji

8 The Fuji from Kanaya on the Tōkaidō 東海道金谷の不二

Tōkaidō Kanaya no Fuji

9 Dawn at Isawa in Kai Province 甲州伊沢暁

Kōshū Isawa no Akatsuki

10 The back of Fuji from the Minobu river 身延川裏不二

Minobu-gawa ura Fuji

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Nagata
  2. ^ Smith

[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

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