Lake Suwa and Mount Fuji

Shinshū Suwa-ko
Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji

Katsushika Hokusai

Artwork Description

Shinshū Suwa-ko presents Lake Suwa in Shinano Province, viewed from the vicinity of Shimosuwa. Hokusai anchors the composition with two towering pine trees at the center, their branches spreading outward to frame a small shrine nestled beneath them. This strong central motif recalls compositional strategies seen elsewhere in the series, such as Kōshū Mishima-goe, where monumental foreground elements structure the viewer’s gaze.

In the middle distance, Suwa Takashima Castle appears to float upon the lake’s still surface. Its placement establishes a layered spatial progression: foreground pines and shrine, middle ground castle and water, and distant Mount Fuji rising beyond. The mountain’s triangular form echoes the verticality of the pines, creating a visual dialogue between natural monument and cultivated space.

The presence of a solitary boat gliding quietly across the water introduces human scale and motion without disturbing the serenity of the scene. Unlike the violent confrontation of sea and sky in The Great Wave, this work is defined by restraint and equilibrium. The lake’s smooth expanse merges with the vast sky, dissolving boundaries between reflection and atmosphere.

Geographically, Mount Fuji is indeed visible from Lake Suwa under favorable conditions. Hokusai acknowledges this fact while simultaneously elevating it into symbolic space. The pairing of Lake Suwa and Mount Fuji became an iconic motif, later revisited by artists such as Utagawa Hiroshige. Within the Edo imagination, the site was cherished not merely as a scenic landmark, but as a place where spiritual presence, regional identity, and natural grandeur converged.

The use of strong framing trees, layered recession, and balanced geometry demonstrates Hokusai’s mature mastery of landscape composition. Here, nature is neither threatening nor theatrical, but contemplative. Human presence—shrine, castle, boat—exists in quiet harmony with the vastness of sky and mountain. The result is a work that crystallizes stillness itself into image form.

About Katsushika Hokusai

Katsushika Hokusai was one of the most influential ukiyo-e artists of the Edo period. Active as both painter and printmaker, he expanded ukiyo-e beyond portraits of actors and courtesans into landscapes, nature, and scenes of daily life.

His series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji became one of the most celebrated achievements in Japanese printmaking. Hokusai’s exploration of spatial depth, atmospheric color, and structural balance had a profound influence on European artists such as Vincent van Gogh and Claude Monet during the nineteenth-century wave of Japonism.

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.