"The back of Fuji from the Minobu river" from 36 views of Mt.Fuji series by Hokusai

Description : 

"Kōshū Misaka Suimen" 

The Back of Fuji from the Minobu River (Kōshū Minobu-gawa Ura Fuji) is one of the most dramatic and spatially complex compositions in Katsushika Hokusai’s Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji series (c.1830–32). Depicting the rarely seen western face of Mount Fuji, this print captures the view from the Minobu region of Kai Province (present-day Yamanashi Prefecture), where the Fuji River surges through steep valleys toward the Pacific.

Hokusai constructs the scene with a striking contrast of horizontal and vertical forces: the rushing water flows diagonally across the lower plane, while jagged peaks rise sharply, breaking through the clouds that obscure the distant summit of Fuji. The dynamic tension between these opposing directions gives the composition its sense of immense scale and power.

The human figures and horses traveling along the riverbank emphasize both movement and endurance—an allegory of life’s passage through nature’s formidable rhythm. The artist’s use of vivid colors—blue, green, ochre, and muted gray—creates depth and atmospheric perspective, while the fine bokashi (gradation) and black contour lines balance realism with abstraction.

Technically, this print represents one of Hokusai’s most sophisticated uses of layering and registration, where the overlapping of color planes suggests mist, speed, and geological depth. Symbolically, Fuji’s obscured form may evoke the hidden divine: the sacred mountain glimpsed only through effort and faith.

Within the broader cultural context of the late Edo period, The Back of Fuji from the Minobu River embodies the aesthetic of fūkei-ga (landscape pictures) transformed by an almost spiritual dynamism. It is both a depiction of nature’s ferocity and an affirmation of human perseverance.

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