Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei)
Fuji Seen from Kanaya on the Tōkaidō
東海道金谷の不二 · Tōkaidō Kanaya no Fuji
Katsushika Hokusai · c. 1830–32
What it is
Porters wade a fast, churning river at Kanaya on the Tōkaidō, carrying travellers and their baggage on their shoulders, while Fuji stands calm beyond.
Why it matters
One of the ten added designs, it sets some of the hardest labour in the series against its stillest mountain.
What to notice
The water is drawn in hard, repeated claws of blue across most of the sheet; the mountain is the only quiet thing in it.
The road’s hardest stretch is a crowd of people getting each other across.
The record
- Artist
- Katsushika Hokusai 葛飾北斎 (1760–1849)
- Series
- Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei)
- Date
- c. 1830–32
- Publisher
- Nishimuraya Yohachi (Eijudō)
- Medium
- woodblock print; ink and color on paper
- Source
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art · JP2975
Impression note. The series sold well and was printed in large numbers. The first sheets lean on the newly imported Prussian blue, outlines included; later printings add colours and soften the key block. This is the largest clean open impression of the design the Met holds. Impression variance is real — printings differ in wiping and fading — and choosing the finest openly held impression is the curatorial act.
Public domain; faithfully reproduced.
Bring it home
Printed to order on EMA matte art paper, 200gsm.
From the same series
Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei)Under the Wave off Kanagawa (The Great Wave)Katsushika Hokusai · c. 1830–32
Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei)Fine Wind, Clear Morning (Red Fuji)Katsushika Hokusai · c. 1830–32
Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei)Thunderstorm Beneath the SummitKatsushika Hokusai · c. 1830–32
Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei)Kajikazawa in Kai ProvinceKatsushika Hokusai · c. 1830–32The road at your moment — Painted Earth’s ukiyo-e style pack.