Onden no suisha
Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji
Katsushika Hokusai
Artwork Description
This scene is set in the rural village of Onden, near present-day Harajuku along the Shibuya River. At the time, the area was characterized by fields and small mills operating on the river’s current. The composition centers on a large waterwheel positioned prominently in the foreground.
The circular mass of the wheel dominates the left side of the image, its spokes and rim forming a strong geometric structure. Water cascades downward in curved streams, generating rhythmic motion within the lower register. The perspective of the wheel is intentionally altered: the rim enlarges slightly as it recedes, creating visual tension and disrupting conventional linear depth.
Around the wheel, villagers engage in daily labor. Women wash rice bran at the water’s edge, men carry sacks of grain, and a child walks nearby. Their figures distribute movement across the foreground, establishing a field of activity that contrasts with the still presence of Mount Fuji in the distance.
Fuji rises along the horizon, positioned beyond the clustered labor. Its triangular form provides a stable anchor against the circular motion of the wheel. The contrast between rotational movement and distant stillness clarifies the structural tension within the composition.
The print situates human industry within the flow of natural forces. Water drives the machinery; labor organizes the foreground; Fuji remains fixed beyond both. The work reinforces a central principle of the series: dynamic human activity unfolds within a stable natural framework anchored by the mountain.
About Katsushika Hokusai
Katsushika Hokusai was one of the most influential ukiyo-e artists of the Edo period. Active as painter and printmaker, he expanded ukiyo-e beyond portraiture into landscapes, nature, and scenes of everyday life.
In Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, Hokusai transformed landscape into a structural system—juxtaposing motion and stillness, labor and faith, industry and leisure—while anchoring each composition with the enduring presence of Mount Fuji.
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.
