The Edo period in Japan was a 250 year period of stability, lasting between 1603 and 1868, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate. It was a rich time for the development of Japanese culture and saw the development of Japanese cultural themes recognisable today like kabuki theatre, Geisha girls, sumo wrestling and ukiyo‑e woodblock print art.
Ukiyo‑e translates as “pictures of the floating world” and referred to the hedonistic lifestyle prevalent in the pleasure districts of Edo (modern-day Tokyo). Thus, we see a variety of erotic themes in this art, but also plenty of landscapes, flora and fauna, and scenes from history and folk tales. A famous proponent of ukiyo‑e was Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849), best known for his woodblock print series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji which includes the internationally iconic print, The Great Wave off Kanagawa.
Hokusai created the Thirty-Six Views both as a response to a domestic travel boom and as part of a personal obsession with Mount Fuji. The series depicts Mount Fuji from different locations and in various seasons and weather conditions. It was this series, and specifically The Great Wave print, that secured Hokusai’s fame both in Japan and overseas. They are wonderfully simple yet evocative pieces.
The series was produced from around 1830 to 1832, when Hokusai was in his seventies and at the height of his career. As well as The Great Wave, you may also recognise Rainstorm Beneath the Summit and Fine Wind, Clear Morning. My personal favourite, however, is Ejiri in Suruga Province: a sudden gust of wind takes some travellers by surprise, blowing away the hat of a man who tries in vain to catch it. Bits of paper whirl away from a woman’s backpack and scatter into the air. The woman’s wind-tossed cloth covers her face, and the tall tree in the foreground loses its leaves. Other travellers face the wind, crouching low to avoid it and clinging to their hats. Fuji, meanwhile, stands white and unshaken, affected neither by the wind nor the human drama.
