"Mount Fuji reflects in Lake Kawaguchi, seen from the Misaka Pass in Kai Province" from 36 views of Mt.Fuji series by Hokusai

Description : 

(Kōshū Misaka Suimen, from Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji)

Created around 1831, this print shows Mount Fuji as seen from the Misaka Pass, linking the Kōfu Basin to Lake Kawaguchi in Kai Province (today’s Yamanashi Prefecture). Hokusai portrays the mountain’s reflection on a tranquil lake, yet the mirrored image is displaced and snowcapped, while the real Fuji remains bare in the summer light—an intentional divergence between reality and illusion.

The print demonstrates Hokusai’s masterful color gradation, using Prussian blue for atmospheric depth and orange for the sunlit slopes. The still lake and diagonal boat introduce quiet rhythm, while the smooth transition from turquoise to ultramarine enhances the sense of balance and calm.

Rather than a perfect mirror image, Hokusai constructs a point symmetry—an inversion of perception rather than geometry. This device lightens the right side of the composition and transforms reflection into poetic transformation. The inverted Fuji becomes not a replica but another realm, suggesting a dialogue between the visible and the invisible.

The coexistence of the summer Fuji and its snow-covered reflection expresses a meditation on time and transformation. The motionless water and the boat seemingly floating above it evoke a world between surface and depth, life and afterlife—a vision aligned with the Japanese sense of utsuroi (impermanence).

Kōshū Misaka Suimen thus stands as one of Hokusai’s most contemplative works, turning a natural scene into a metaphysical image of duality—earthly yet transcendent, serene yet mysterious.

Hokusai Katsushika : 
Known simply as Hokusai, was a Japanese Ukiyo-e artist of the Edo period, active as a painter and printmaker. 
He is best known for the woodblock print series Thirty six views of Mt Fuji, which includes the iconic print The Great Wave Off Kanagawa. Hokusai was instrumental in developing Ukiyo-e from a style of portraiture largely focused on courtesans and actors into a much broader style of art that focused on landscapes, plants, and animals. His works are thought to have had a significant influence on Vincent Van Gogh and Claude Monete during the wave of Japonism that spread across Europe in the late 19th century.

REPRODUCTION : In the 20th century, artists and publishers collaborated to recreate famous woodblock prints, providing them to Japanese collectors and Westerners seeking rare designs.
New blocks were made, and artisan printers painstakingly printed each color using the same method as the 19th-century originals.

Limited edition lithograph
Hand-printed, numbered 180/300 on margin.
Size : 
410mm x 600mm