Page 322 - Edo: Art in Japan, 1615–1868

176

32l

176 that Hokusai could not stop himself eloquently betray their groggy reluc-
Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) from portraying the mountain. Fuji tance to engage the day. Hokusai has
Dawn at Isauua in Kai Province, stood for more than a scenic view to cleverly shown the sunlight striking
from Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji him. Obsessed with the desire Fuji in the dawn sky and illuminating
for longevity, Hokusai believed that the thatched roofs on the far side
c. 1830-1832 Fuji had talismanic qualities capable
Color woodblock print of prolonging his life: the pronun- of the street; those on the near side,
as well as the
road itself, are still
T
Approx. 26 x 38 (io /4 x 15) ciation of "Fuji" resembles that of a cast in shadow. Despite the palpable
Tokyo National Museum
pair of Chinese characters meaning sense of an observed scene, it has
"no death." been suggested that Fuji cannot be
• The love affair with Mount Fuji
begun by Hokusai in the series Thirty- The place depicted is the bustling seen from this location because it is
intervening hills. MT
hidden by the
six Views of Mount Fuji culminated in post town of Isawa on the Fuefuki
his three-volume monochrome book River, at the fork of the two major
One Hundred Views of Fuji, produced roads Kóshú Kaidó and Osaka Shindó.
in 1834, about three years after the Hokusai seems to have been fond of
original set of single-sheet prints. An the locality; he had already depicted
intermediate phase is represented it in the next-to-last print in the origi-
by this and nine other prints depict- nal series. Here he imbued the scene
ing Fuji from the hinterlands (ura with the lyrical quality that Ando
Fuji, literally "rear Fuji"), added to the Hiroshige (1797-1858) would exploit
Thirty-six Views after the supposed so successfully slightly later. It is day-
completion of the series. It seems break, and travelers are staggering
sleepily out of the night, their forms
barely visible in the shadows of the
road. The tilted angles of their hats