Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849) was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist best known for the woodblock print series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji , especially the iconic print The Great Wave off Kanagawa.

Quick Scoop

Who was Katsushika Hokusai?

  • Born in Edo (now Tokyo) in 1760, Hokusai trained in the ukiyo-e tradition, which focused on “pictures of the floating world” such as actors, courtesans, and city life.
  • Over his long career he used more than 30 different names, a common practice among Japanese artists, reflecting new phases in his life and style.
  • He became one of the most influential Japanese artists, inspiring later Japanese printmakers as well as European Impressionist and Post‑Impressionist painters.

Signature works and style

  • His most famous series, Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (c. 1830–1833), includes The Great Wave off Kanagawa and Red Fuji and helped push ukiyo-e from portraits and city scenes into landscape as a major genre.
  • Hokusai experimented with Western-style linear perspective and shading, giving his prints a sense of depth unusual in Japanese art of his time.
  • Beyond landscapes, he produced images of daily life, flora and fauna, ghosts and legends, and humorous scenes, showing a restless curiosity about the world.

Hokusai Manga and late career

  • Starting in the early 1810s, he published Hokusai Manga , a multi-volume series of sketchbooks with people, animals, landscapes, and imaginative figures, effectively functioning as visual reference books and playful studies.
  • In his later years he called himself “Gakyō Rōjin Manji” (“The Old Man Mad About Art”), expressing his belief that he would keep improving even into his nineties and beyond.
  • He continued working despite fires, financial troubles, and changing tastes, remaining productive into his eighties.

Why he’s still a trending topic

  • The Great Wave off Kanagawa is one of the most reproduced artworks in the world today, appearing in museum shows, design, fashion, and online discussions about Japanese art and global visual culture.
  • Contemporary forums and social media often revisit Hokusai’s work when new exhibitions open or when people debate themes like nature’s power, globalization, and the influence of Japanese prints on Western modern art.
  • Exhibitions and timelines from major museums (such as the British Museum and Asian Art Museum) keep updating educational content about his life and series like Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji and One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji , which helps sustain his visibility for new audiences.

Mini fact list

  • Birth: 1760, Edo (Tokyo), Japan.
  • Death: 1849, in Edo.
  • Main medium: Ukiyo-e woodblock prints and paintings.
  • Key series: Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji , One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji , Hokusai Manga , waterfall and bridge series.
  • Iconic image: The Great Wave off Kanagawa.

Simple HTML table (key facts)

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<table>
  <tr>
    <th>Aspect</th>
    <th>Details</th>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Full name</td>
    <td>Katsushika Hokusai (葛飾北斎)</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Life dates</td>
    <td>1760–1849 (Edo period Japan)</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Famous for</td>
    <td>Ukiyo-e woodblock prints, especially The Great Wave off Kanagawa</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Major series</td>
    <td>Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, Hokusai Manga, One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Artistic traits</td>
    <td>Bold composition, use of perspective, focus on landscapes and everyday life</td>
  </tr>
</table>

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.