Primary sourcePaintingc. 1830-1832

Thunderstorm Beneath the Summit

Katsushika Hokusai · c. 1830-1832

A woodblock print of Mount Fuji struck by lightning, from Hokusai's Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji series, companion to his Red Fuji.

This print is one of Hokusai's own works from his celebrated Mount Fuji series.

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Woodblock print of Mount Fuji with a red-brown, shaded slope and snowy peak under a pale sky with white clouds and a dark blue top band. Dark ground fills the lower half with bright orange-red zigzag lightning bolts striking at lower right. Green hills appear at left, and a cartouche with Japanese characters is at upper left. — Katsushika Hokusai, Thunderstorm Beneath the Summit, from Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, c. 1830-1832.

About this source

What it is

Also called 'Black Fuji', this woodblock print by Hokusai shows Mount Fuji rendered in dark, heavy tones with a bolt of lightning splitting the base. It belongs to his series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, published around 1830–1832.

Why it matters

Compared with its companion print, Fine Wind, Clear Morning (Red Fuji), this image shows how Hokusai could transform the same mountain through mood and weather. It demonstrates his technical mastery of colour printing and his endless fascination with a single subject seen in many lights.

Look closer

How does the colour and line in this print create a sense of menace compared to a calmer Fuji image?
Why might an artist return to the same subject again and again in one series?
What details, such as the summit's shape, tell us this is a different view of Fuji than usual?

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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Samurai Visiting a Latrine

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Colour woodblock print of Mount Fuji with a red-brown peak streaked with white snow, under a deep blue sky filled with rows of white, layered clouds. Dark green slopes fill the lower foreground. A vertical title cartouche with printed characters sits at the upper left.

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Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji

Katsushika Hokusai · c. 1830-1832

Woodblock print of a red-and-yellow rowing boat on a dark blue pond with lotus leaves. Several women in red and pink robes sit and kneel in the boat, one at the stern holding a long pole, others reaching toward the water. A green bank with bushes is at left, and a poem cartouche is at upper right.

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Women in a Rowing Boat on a Lotus Pond

Hokusai Katsushika

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