Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei)
Mishima Pass in Kai Province
甲州三嶌越 · Kōshū Mishima-goe
Katsushika Hokusai · c. 1830–32
What it is
On the pass road, travelers join hands around a cryptomeria too huge for the picture — its crown is cut off by the sky — while Fuji looks on over the ridge.
Why it matters
Hokusai's joke about measurement: the only way to know a great thing's size is to put your arms around it — and fail.
What to notice
The tree bursts the frame; Fuji, far larger, fits neatly inside it. Scale is a matter of distance.
"What is near overwhelms. What endures sits quietly at the horizon."
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 Art Institute of Chicago · 1925.3281
Impression note. Impressions vary chiefly in the greens of the great cryptomeria and the graded tone of the sky; a fine impression keeps the travelers' joined hands legible at the trunk. 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.