Primary sourcePaintingca. 1830–32

Under the Wave off Kanagawa (The Great Wave)

Katsushika Hokusai · ca. 1830–32

Hokusai's famous woodblock print of a huge wave threatening boats near Mount Fuji, from his series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji.

This is Hokusai's own woodblock print, his most celebrated work and a key part of his life's output.

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Color woodblock print showing a huge curling blue-and-white wave in the foreground threatening three boats with men at oars, while Mount Fuji appears small and snow-capped in the distance under a pale sky. Japanese calligraphy appears in the upper left corner. — Katsushika Hokusai, Under the Wave off Kanagawa (The Great Wave), from Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, ca. 1830–32. Metropolitan Museum of Art.

About this source

What it is

This color woodblock print was made by Katsushika Hokusai around 1830–32. It is part of his series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji and is held today at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, having come from the H. O. Havemeyer Collection.

Why it matters

The print shows a giant curling wave about to crash down on three small boats, with Mount Fuji appearing tiny and calm in the background. It is one of the most recognized images in Japanese art, showing Hokusai's skill in woodblock design and his fascination with nature's power compared to human effort.

Look closer

How does the artist use size and placement to compare the wave, the boats, and Mount Fuji?
What does the calligraphy in the corner tell us about how the print was meant to be read?
Why might this image have become so famous around the world?

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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Woodcut print in blue, cream and tan tones of a huge curling wave with claw-like foam fingers rising over two boats full of rowers. Small Mount Fuji appears in the distance under a pale sky. Japanese calligraphy sits in a cartouche at upper left.

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The Great Wave off Kanagawa

Katsushika Hokusai · 1830

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.

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Man with Filarial Elephantiasis

Katsushika Hokusai · 1834

Woodcut print in ink on paper showing a scene at a wooden outhouse. A samurai with two swords peers out from a window of the latrine building. Outside, a bald man carries a large wooden bucket on a pole, and another man crouches in the foreground. Japanese text and a signature appear in the margins.

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Samurai Visiting a Latrine

Hokusai Katsushika · 1834

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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Primary source

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.

Painting

Primary source

Women in a Rowing Boat on a Lotus Pond

Hokusai Katsushika

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