Sōshū Shichirigahama
Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji
Katsushika Hokusai
Artwork Description
Sōshū Shichirigahama depicts the long coastal stretch of Shichirigahama along Sagami Bay, in present-day Kanagawa Prefecture. As one of the early works in Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, it is distinguished by its restraint and refined use of indigo blue.
Unlike many compositions in the series, this print contains no human figures. The landscape alone carries the entire visual structure: rolling hills, clustered pines, rhythmic waves, layered clouds, and the distant silhouette of Mount Fuji.
Depth is not constructed through strict linear perspective. Instead, Hokusai builds spatial recession through overlapping forms, tonal gradation, and the measured placement of horizontal bands. The sea in the foreground ripples gently, while sky and water transition seamlessly into one another, creating visual continuity.
The restrained palette reinforces the mood of calm observation. Rather than dramatizing the coastline, Hokusai presents a meditation on atmosphere. The absence of human activity intensifies the presence of Fuji, which rises quietly but decisively on the horizon.
As an early work in the series, this print reveals Hokusai’s exploration of minimal composition and chromatic unity. It stands as an experiment in silence—where landscape alone becomes sufficient subject.
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 from actor portraiture into landscapes, nature, and scenes of everyday life.
In Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, Hokusai explores tension and stillness, labor and emptiness, devotion and industry. Across these variations, Fuji remains the constant axis around which human and natural worlds revolve.
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.
