Who Made “The Great Wave”?

Katsushika Hokusai may be the greatest Japanese artist known outside of Japan, not only to artists and art-lovers, but it’s almost guaranteed that everyone has seen and been inspired by at least one of his works: The Great Wave Off Kanagawa, also known as The Great Wave, or simply The Wave. 

A master artist and printmaker of ukiyo-e, “pictures of the floating world” school, it is Hokusai’s most celebrated work and with no doubt considered the most recognizable work of Japanese art in the world.

Hokusai’s early works represent a full spectrum of ukiyo-e art, including prints of Kabuki actors, women, landscapes, miniature prints, and numerous volumes of paintings and random sketches.

Born on October 30th, 1760, in the Honjo quarter just east of Edo (modern-day Tokyo), Hokusai lived and actively worked until his death (May 10th, 1849), at the age of 90…which for the Edo era, was an unusually long life. 

At birth, he was adopted by a prestigious artisan named Nakajima, a mirror maker for the shogun, and spent his early years living among artisans. 

In an era where a child learning to write meant learning to paint, since the skills and brushes needed were almost the same, Hokusai began learning to paint when he was five years old. 

At the age of 12, his father sent him to work at a bookshop, and from 15, he apprenticed to a wood-block engraver and spent three years learning the trade. At 18, he was accepted as an apprentice to Katsukawa Shunsho, one of the foremost ukiyo-e artists of the time, which would truly impact his direction in life.

At 19, he took the name Shunro, the first of about 30 names that he would use during his lifetime. This particular practice, where an artist adopted a new name each time they reached a new level of proficiency, was common at the time, but Hokusai took on many more names than was at all typical, which now however is very helpful in dating his many works. 

Judging from the ages of his several children, Hokusai must have married in his mid-20’s. From this period his designs turned from prints of actors and women to almost entirely landscape subjects. 

He also began to study European traditions, acquiring French and Dutch copper engravings which provided inspiration for experimenting with perspective.

Hokusai’s early 30’s, were to have been filled with turmoil and to prove to be years of deep personal change. His master Shunsho died, and somewhat later his young wife passed away, leaving him solely responsible to raise their son and two daughters. 

He would eventually remarry, and in this same eventful year would adopt the name we all know him as “Hokusai.” This important change of name was to mark what is now called the “golden age“ of Hokusai’s works, which was to continue for the next 50 years. 

The name Hokusai translates to “North Star Studio”, Hokusai being a member of the Nichiren sect of Buddhism, who associate the North Star with Myoken, a Buddhist deity.

The many choices of Hokusai’s names, and his frequent depiction of Mount Fuji were to have directly stemmed from his religious and spiritual beliefs, and also from the ancient philosophy about the sacredness of Mount Fuji, which had been firmly established for ages. 

This long-accepted philosophy can be traced to the ancient legend,” The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter”, where the moon princess, Kaguya-Hime, gives the emperor an elixir for immortality, which he burns at the very top of Japan’s highest mountain. From this moment on, the mountain would be called “the mountain of immortality”, or “Mount Fuji”.

Mount Fuji’s link with eternal life, was to be at the very heart of Hokusai’s obsession with the mountain as he said:

“The entire secret of eternal life was given to this volcano, which continues producing smoke filled with answers till the end of time, therefore remaining alive forever.”

When Hokusai was 68, his second wife died. Being in ill-health after having had a stroke, Hokusai was also suffering with intermittent paralysis. It was at this time, his beloved daughter (and pupil), O-ei, decided to leave her unhappy marriage with a minor artist, and return to her father’s side, where she was to have stayed for the rest of his remaining years.

Hokusai was over 70 years old when The Great Wave was made. It would be the very first print he would publish of his monumental series, “The Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji”, a series which would firmly secure Hokusai’s fame in Japan, as well as overseas.

Constantly seeking to produce better work, at age 74 Hokusai writes:

“From the age of five I have had a mania for sketching the forms of things. From about the age of 50, I produced a number of designs, yet of all I drew prior to the age of 70, there is truly nothing of great note. At age 73, I finally apprehended something of the vital nature of grasses and trees. Therefore, at 80, I shall have become truly marvelous, and at 110, each dot, each line shall surely possess a life of its own, I only beg that gentlemen of sufficiently long life take care to note the truth of my words.”

Hokusai strongly believed his personal and spiritual attachment to Mount Fuji could only be explored by devoting the rest of his life and work to the deep honoring of the relationship he continued with “the mountain of immortality”. However, not only Mount Fuji, he would also draw countless waves throughout his career, the origins of The Great Wave being able to be traced back well over thirty years…

An energetic artist, Hokusai rose early each day and continued his work until well after dark. This was to have been the customary regime in his long, productive career, producing a staggering volume of around 30,000 works during his lifetime.

Having left a legacy of seventy years of thrilling masterpieces, the genius of Hokusai continues to profoundly affect all of its viewers, and will no doubt affect the world’s appreciation of Japanese art for countless generations to come.