Kōshū Kajikazawa
Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji
Katsushika Hokusai
Artwork Description
Kōshū Kajikazawa depicts the powerful currents of the Fuji River at the meeting point of the Kamanashi and Fuefuki Rivers. The water surges and fractures around jagged rocks, creating a dynamic field of motion across the lower half of the composition.
In the foreground, a lone fisherman casts his net into the torrent. His bent posture forms a triangular structure, extending from his back through his outstretched arms to the taut lines of the net. This geometry echoes the distant triangular silhouette of Mount Fuji. Through this visual rhyme, Hokusai links human effort and natural monument within a single structural framework.
Beside him, a child leans over a basket of fish, introducing a quiet domestic note that tempers the violence of the water. The contrast between turbulence and calm, exertion and stillness, animates the scene.
Early impressions of this print were executed in shades of blue, making it one of Hokusai’s most celebrated examples of aizuri-e, or blue-only prints. Later editions introduced additional color accents, including warm tones in the clouds, increasing atmospheric depth while preserving the compositional strength.
Here, nature is neither serene nor overwhelming, but active. Human presence is small yet resolute. The triangular symmetry between fisherman and Fuji reinforces the print’s structural clarity, demonstrating Hokusai’s mastery of form and movement.
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 represents a milestone in Japanese printmaking. Through inventive geometry, bold color use, and dynamic perspective, Hokusai reshaped the visual language of landscape within ukiyo-e.
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.
