The Floating World

Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei)

Nihonbashi in Edo

江戸日本橋 · Edo Nihonbashi

Katsushika Hokusai · c. 1830–32

What it is

White-walled warehouses line the canal from Nihonbashi, with Edo Castle beyond and Fuji over all of it.

Why it matters

Hokusai shows the city’s trade running along the water toward the mountain, and the bridge itself is reduced to a crowd at the bottom edge.

What to notice

The warehouses recede in a long, steep perspective, and the bridge is cut off at the foot of the sheet by a row of heads.

The heart of the city is a busy canal, and the mountain stands at its far end.

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 · JP1295

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.