The Hokusai-kan Museum

Hokusai Katsushika was a master of Ukiyo-e, a Japanese genre of painting and woodblock printing that flourished between the late 17th and late 19th centuries.The word “ukiyo” means “this world” or “the present world.” Ukiyoe is an artform featuring depictions of the everyday themes preferred by ordinary people, including scenes of daily life in cities and towns, beautiful women, and travel landscapes. Hokusai’s famous Thirty-Six Views of Mt. Fuji series was one of these. It includes the renowned painting of the Great Wave off Kanagawa. This Japanese aesthetic, and Hokusai’s work, in particular, influenced Western artists like Monet and Van Gogh.