Katsushika Hokusai
Rainstorm Beneath the Summit, from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji
The Sumida Hokusai Museum
(Exhibit full-term with changes in works)
This print is a star of the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji.
Hakuu (白雨), means a sudden shower. By depicting the contrasting weather on the upper and lower parts
of the mountain—sunny above, a thundershower below—this print expresses Mount Fuji’s vast grandeur.
1: Various mountains all over the country
Introduce the many ways Hokusai and his students ingeniously devised to present mountains, from Hokusai’s Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji series to works depicting mountains all over the country.
Japan’s tallest peak has long been worshipped. It has also provided the subject matter for ukiyo-e and other works of art, influencing the arts not only in Japan but also in the West. Its vast cultural significance inspired its being inscribed as a World Cultural Heritage Site in 2013. This year is the tenth anniversary of granting that recognition to the mountain!
Hokusai and his students addressed mountains of all sorts. Until then, pictures of famous places had been only an obscure subject in ukiyo-e. It was Hokusai who elevated them into a major genre, with his many depictions of mountains.
Katsushika Hokusai
Minamoto no Muneyuki Ason, from the series One Hundred Poems Explained by a Nurse
The Sumida Hokusai Museum
(2nd term)
2: Life in the Mountains
Through many views of life in the mountains by Hokusai and his students, it explores Hokusai’s focus not just on the scenery but on the people.
Katsushika Hokusai
Socializing with a Mountain Demon Who Understands Human Speech, from Strange Tales from Hokuetsu, Vol. 4
The Sumida Hokusai Museum
(full term)
3: Mountains and Legends: Weird Mountain Creatures
Mountains were believed to be sacred spaces, spirit worlds or entrances to the spirit world, and mysterious beings were believed to inhabit them. Introduces, legends about mountains and the uncanny creatures living there and the tales featuring those creatures.
Organizers: Sumida City, The Sumida Hokusai Museum
Official Exhibition Website: https://hokusai-museum.jp/MountainEN/
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Japanese Ukiyo-e artist Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) was born in Sumida, Tokyo. It is said that Hokusai moved more than 90 times during his 90-year life, spending most of his lifetime in Sumida, and left many works depicting the scenery of Sumida, including Ryōgoku Bridge, Mimeguri Shrine, and Ushijima Shrine. He vividly captured life in the Edo Period and is best known for the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji which includes representative Japan’s most iconic artwork Under the Wave off Kanagawa, known internationally as The Great wave. His fascinating life and varied works spanning more than 70 years are more highly regarded today than ever, 160 years after his death. Today, he and his works are in the limelight as one of the most acclaimed artists in the world.
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The Sumida Hokusai Museum is the "growing museum” that provides information about Hokusai and his students to the local community and the world!
Photo Owashi Yosuke