Primary sourcePainting1834

Man with Filarial Elephantiasis

Katsushika Hokusai · 1834

A coloured woodblock print by Hokusai from volume 12 of his Manga sketchbooks, showing a medical condition amid scenes of everyday Edo life.

Hokusai created this print as part of his own sketchbook series, the Hokusai Manga.

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Woodblock print page from Hokusai Manga with Japanese characters. Two men carry loads on poles over their shoulders; the man on the right carries a large hanging sack. A child carries a basket on a pole, and a crouching figure with a basket sits in the lower center beside a large basket. — Katsushika Hokusai, Man with Filarial Elephantiasis, from Hokusai Manga vol. 12, 1834. Wellcome Collection, London.

About this source

What it is

This is a coloured woodblock print made by the Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai in 1834, published in volume 12 of his sketchbook series known as the Hokusai Manga. It is now held by the Wellcome Collection in London.

Why it matters

Hokusai's Manga volumes were filled with thousands of quick sketches of ordinary people, animals, spirits and everyday scenes in Edo-period Japan. This print shows workers carrying loads, including a man with a medical condition called filarial elephantiasis. It reveals how Hokusai observed all kinds of people around him, including those with illness or disability, and recorded them without flinching.

Look closer

What different jobs or tasks are the people in this print doing?
Why might Hokusai have chosen to include a figure with a visible illness in his sketchbook?
What does this tell you about what counted as acceptable subject matter for art in Edo Japan?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Hokusai on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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