Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei)
Ushibori in Hitachi Province
常州牛堀 · Jōshū Ushibori
Katsushika Hokusai · c. 1830–32
What it is
Dawn on the Ushibori inlet: a grain boat lies moored in the reeds, a boatman leans from the bow to tip water into the shallows, and herons break across the blue.
Why it matters
The quietest print in the series — no travelers, no spectacle, one working boat at first light, with Fuji as a bystander.
What to notice
The hull's long diagonal runs against Fuji's slope like a counterweight; the whole scene hangs balanced between the two.
"Work begins before the day does. The mountain keeps the hour."
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 · 1925.3238
Impression note. A blue-dominant design: printings differ in the depth of the water's graded blue and the cold grey of the dawn sky. A fine impression holds the reeds' fine keyblock lines sharp. 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.