Sekiya no Sato
Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji
Katsushika Hokusai
Artwork Description
Sekiya no Sato depicts a stretch of land along the Sumida River, described in Edo Meisho Zue as facing Ushida Village, north of Kōbōji Temple. The setting lies on the northeastern outskirts of Edo, where open riverbanks allowed for rapid travel.
In the foreground, three mounted samurai ride at full speed along the embankment. Their forward momentum creates a powerful diagonal thrust across the composition. The horses stretch forward; garments stream backward. Urgency dominates the lower half of the image.
The riders may represent official couriers, racing to deliver messages. Whether literal or symbolic, their motion conveys disciplined speed.
Behind this surge of activity rises Mount Fuji—calm, stable, distant. The mountain’s quiet mass anchors the horizon while the figures slice through space below.
Hokusai constructs the image through contrast:
movement versus stillness,
diagonal energy versus horizontal calm,
human haste versus geological permanence.
The riders occupy the present moment. Fuji occupies time beyond it.
Through this juxtaposition, Hokusai transforms a simple riverbank scene into a meditation on velocity and endurance. The fleeting urgency of men on horseback unfolds beneath the timeless presence of the mountain.
About Katsushika Hokusai
Katsushika Hokusai was one of the most influential ukiyo-e artists of the Edo period. Active as painter and printmaker, he redefined landscape by embedding human activity within structural composition.
In Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, Fuji operates as a stabilizing axis across scenes of motion, labor, devotion, and urban life.
Reproduction
This work is a 20th century lithographic reproduction of Hokusai’s Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji.
It is not an original Edo period woodblock print, but a later limited edition lithograph.
Hand printed and numbered 180/300 in pencil on the lower margin.
Details
Medium: Lithograph
Edition: 180/300
Size: 410 mm × 600 mm
All artworks are sold as shown in the photographs.
