Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji

woodblock printing series by Katsushika Hokusai

Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji is a group of woodblock prints by Hokusai, a Japanese artist. The prints show Mount Fuji as seen from many different places. The prints were very successful, and Hokusai made ten more after the first thirty-six.[1] The prints were made in the 1830s.

The Great Wave off Kanagawa, the best known print from the series.

The Great Wave off Kanagawa, one of Hokusai's most popular prints, is a part of the series. Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji has been called Hokusai's "colour-print masterpiece".[1]

Process

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Hokusai started making each print by drawing it on paper. It was glued onto a wood block, to help carve the drawing into the wood. The block was then covered with colored ink, and put onto paper to make the print. For each color on a print, Hokusai had to make a different block.[2]

The first prints in the series were made with shades of blue ink.[1] After the series was popular, versions of each print with many colors were made. Over one hundred prints were planned, but only forty-six were made.[1]

Hokusai later made a book named One-Hundred Views of Mount Fuji. It was published around 1835. It had drawings of one-hundred different views of Mount Fuji in it.[3]

Prints

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First thirty-six prints

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No. Image English title Japanese title
1   The Great Wave off Kanagawa 神奈川沖浪裏

Kanagawa oki nami-ura

2   Fine Wind, Clear Morning, also known as South Wind, Clear Sky or Red Fuji 凱風快晴

Gaifū kaisei

3   Thunderstorm Beneath the Summit 山下白雨

Sanka hakuu

4   Under Mannen Bridge at Fukagawa 深川万年橋下

Fukagawa Mannen-bashi shita

5   Sundai, Edo 東都駿台

Tōto sundai

6   Cushion Pine at Aoyama 青山円座松

Aoyama enza-no-matsu

7   Senju, Musashi But 武州千住

Bushū Senju

8   Inume Pass, Kōshū 甲州犬目峠

Kōshū inume-tōge

9   Fuji View Field in Owari Province 尾州不二見原

Bishū Fujimigahara

10   Ejiri in Suruga Province 駿州江尻

Sunshū Ejiri

11   A sketch of the Mitsui shop in Suruga in Edo (a city that is now called Tokyo) 江都駿河町三井見世略図

Kōto Suruga-cho Mitsui Miseryakuzu

12   Sunset across the Ryōgoku bridge from the bank of the Sumida River at Onmayagashi 御厩川岸より両国橋夕陽見

Ommayagashi yori ryōgoku-bashi yūhi mi

13   Sazai hall – Temple of Five Hundred Rakan 五百らかん寺さざゐどう

Gohyaku-rakanji Sazaidō

14   Tea house at Koishikawa. The morning after a snowfall 礫川雪の旦

Koishikawa yuki no ashita

15   Shimomeguro 下目黒

Shimomeguro

16   Watermill at Onden 隠田の水車

Onden no suisha

17   Enoshima in Sagami Province 相州江の島

Soshū Enoshima

18   Shore of Tago Bay, Ejiri at Tōkaidō 東海道江尻田子の浦略図

Tōkaidō Ejiri tago-no-uraryakuzu

19   Yoshida at Tōkaidō 東海道吉田

Tōkaidō Yoshida

20   The Kazusa Province sea route 上総の海路

Kazusa no kairo

21   Nihonbashi bridge in Edo 江戸日本橋

Edo Nihon-bashi

22   Barrier Town on the Sumida River 隅田川関屋の里

Sumidagawa Sekiya no sato

23   Bay of Noboto 登戸浦

Noboto-ura

24   The lake of Hakone in Sagami Province 相州箱根湖水

Sōshū Hakone kosui

25   Mount Fuji reflects in Lake Kawaguchi, seen from the Misaka Pass in Kai Province 甲州三坂水面

Kōshū Misaka suimen

26   Hodogaya on the Tōkaidō 東海道保土ケ谷

Tōkaidō Hodogaya

27   Tama River in Musashi Province 武州玉川

Bushū Tamagawa

28   Asakusa Hongan-ji temple in the Eastern capital [Edo] 東都浅草本願寺

Tōto Asakusa honganji

29   Tsukuda Island in Musashi Province 武陽佃島

Buyō Tsukuda-jima

30   Shichiri Beach in Sagami Province 相州七里浜

Soshū Shichiri-ga-hama

31   Umezawa in Sagami Province 相州梅沢庄

Soshū umezawanoshō

32   Kajikazawa in Kai Province 甲州石班沢

Kōshū Kajikazawa

33   Mishima Pass in Kai Province 甲州三嶌越

Kōshū Mishima-goe

34   Mount Fuji from the mountains of Tōtōmi 遠江山中

Tōtōumi sanchū

35   A View of Mount Fuji Across Lake Suwa (Lake Suwa in Shinano Province) 信州諏訪湖

Shinshū Suwa-ko

36   Ushibori in Hitachi Province 常州牛掘

Jōshū Ushibori

Ten prints made later

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No. Image English title Japanese title
1   Goten-yama-hill, Shinagawa on the Tōkaidō 東海道品川御殿山の不二

Tōkaidō Shinagawa Goten'yama no Fuji

2   Honjo Tatekawa, the timberyard at Honjo, Sumida 本所立川

Honjo Tatekawa

3   Pleasure District at Senju 従千住花街眺望の不二

Senju Hana-machi Yori Chōbō no Fuji

4   Nakahara in Sagami Province 相州仲原

Sōshū Nakahara

5   Ōno Shinden in Suruga Province 駿州大野新田

Sunshū Ōno-shinden

6   Climbing on Fuji 諸人登山

Shojin tozan

7   The Tea plantation of Katakura in Suruga Province 駿州片倉茶園の不二

Sunshū Katakura chaen no Fuji

8   The Fuji from Kanaya on the Tōkaidō 東海道金谷の不二

Tōkaidō Kanaya no Fuji

9   Dawn at Isawa in Kai Province 甲州伊沢暁

Kōshū Isawa no Akatsuki

10   The back of Fuji from the Minobu river 身延川裏不二

Minobu-gawa ura Fuji

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References

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  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Calza, Gian Carlo (2004-10-01). Hokusai. Phaidon Press. ISBN 978-0-7148-4457-2.
  2. The Prints of Japan. Frank A. Turk, October House Inc, 1966, Lib Congress catalog Card no. 66-25524
  3. Katsushika, Hokusai (1988). One Hundred Views of Mt. Fuji. George Braziller. ISBN 978-0-8076-1195-1.