The Great Wave off Kanagawa

A woodblock print made in thousands

The Great Wave off Kanagawa is not a painting but a colour woodblock print, designed by Katsushika Hokusai around 1830 to 1832. It was the first sheet in his series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji. Thousands of impressions were printed and sold cheaply in Edo, today’s Tokyo.

Many impressions survive in museums around the world, including the British Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Library of Congress. The impression shown here is in the Library of Congress in Washington.

A wave like a claw

A huge wave rises over the left half of the picture and curls forward. Its crest breaks into white foam shaped like grasping fingers. Drops of spray fall like snow.

The deep blue is Prussian blue, a synthetic pigment newly imported into Japan. Its intensity was part of the print’s success.

Three boats in danger

Three long, narrow boats ride the waves, their rowers crouched low. These were fast boats used to carry fresh fish to market in Edo. The men hold on as the sea rises over them.

Mount Fuji, small and still

In the distance, Mount Fuji appears small and snow-capped, framed by the hollow of the wave. The sacred mountain is calm and permanent, while the sea threatens to swallow the boats. The contrast of scale is the key to the design.

Title and signature

At the upper left, a rectangular cartouche gives the series and the title: Under the Wave off Kanagawa. Beside it, Hokusai signed as “Hokusai aratame Iitsu hitsu,” meaning “from the brush of Hokusai, changing his name to Iitsu.” He was over seventy when he designed it.

Hokusai, “mad about painting”

Katsushika Hokusai (1760 to 1849) was one of the most prolific artists in Japanese history. He produced tens of thousands of drawings, prints, paintings and book illustrations. He changed his name more than thirty times and signed some later works as “old man mad about painting.” He was over seventy when he designed The Great Wave.

He believed he would keep improving until he reached a hundred, when he might finally achieve true mastery.

The new Prussian blue

The striking blue of the print came from Prussian blue, a synthetic pigment invented in Europe and imported into Japan in large quantities from the late 1820s. It was more durable and intense than traditional plant-based blues. The Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji made bold use of it, and the colour helped make the series popular.

How the print was made

Ukiyo-e prints were made by a team. Hokusai drew the design, a carver cut it into cherry-wood blocks, one for each colour, and a printer inked the blocks and pressed paper onto them by hand. The publisher, Nishimuraya Yohachi, financed and sold the prints. Thousands of impressions were made, sold cheaply to ordinary people in Edo.

Influence on Western art

When Japanese prints reached Europe in the second half of the nineteenth century, they caused a sensation. Artists such as Monet, Van Gogh and Debussy admired Hokusai. Debussy’s orchestral work La Mer was published in 1905 with a cover based on The Great Wave. The image became one of the most reproduced artworks in the world.

Where to see it

Impressions of The Great Wave are held by many museums, including the British Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Art Institute of Chicago. They are displayed only occasionally because the paper and colours fade in light. Our hand-painted oil reproduction recreates the composition. For more images of the sea, explore our paintings of the sea.

Questions about The Great Wave

Is it a painting?

No. It is a colour woodblock print, made in many impressions.

Where is the original?

There is no single original. Impressions are held by many museums; this one is in the Library of Congress.

Is that Mount Fuji?

Yes. It is part of Hokusai’s series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji.

How large is it?

About 25.4 × 38.1 centimetres, the standard oban print size.

How old was Hokusai when he designed it?

Over seventy.

Which composer used it on a score cover?

Claude Debussy, for La Mer in 1905.

Sources and image credit

• Library of Congress: The Great Wave off Kanagawa
• British Museum: Under the Wave off Kanagawa

Public-domain reproduction of The Great Wave off Kanagawa (about 1830 to 1832), Library of Congress impression, via Wikimedia Commons. Detail images are crops of the same print; no reconstruction or upscaling.