The Floating World

Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei)

Morning after the Snow at Koishikawa in Edo

礫川雪の旦 · Koishikawa yuki no ashita

Katsushika Hokusai · c. 1830–32

What it is

After a night of snow, people on a teahouse balcony at Koishikawa look out over white roofs to Fuji, and birds cross the clear sky.

Why it matters

Hokusai uses the snow to make the mountain and the city one colour, joined across the whole width of the sheet.

What to notice

The snow is the bare paper itself; everything else is printed around it.

A cold morning is a reason to stand still and look.

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 · JP2957

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

The road at your moment — Painted Earth’s ukiyo-e style pack.