The Great Wave off Kanagawa
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DescriptionThis impression is of the yoko-e type, in landscape, and was produced to the Åban size, 25 centimetres high by 37 wide .
The landscape consists of three elements: the sea whipped up by a storm, three boats and a mountain. The composition is complemented by the signature which stands out in the upper left-hand corner.
The MountainThe mountain that is seen at the bottom is Mount Fuji, with a snowcapped peak. Fuji is the central figure in the meisho-e work (representation of famous places) Thirty six views of Mount Fuji, which give a portrait of the mountain seen from various angles. In Japan Mt. Fuji is considered sacred and is a symbol of national identity, in addition to being considered a symbol of beauty.
The dark color around Fuji seems to indicate that the image takes place early in the morning, with the sun rising from the point of the observer, and illuminating the snowy peak. Between the mountain and the viewer there are cumulonimbus clouds, and although they indicate a storm, there is rain on neither Fuji nor the main scene.
BoatsIn the scene there are three oshiokuri-bune, fast boats that are used to transport live fish from the Izu and BÅsÅ peninsulas to the markets of the bay of Edo. As the name of the piece indicates the boats are in Kanagawa prefecture, with Tokyo to the north, Mt Fuji to the northeast, the bay of Sagami to the south. and the bay of Tokyo to the east. The boats oriented to the southeast, are returning to the capital.
There are eight rowers per boat, clinging to their oars. There are two more passengers in the front of each boat, bringing the total number of human figures in the image to thirty. Using the boats as reference, one can approximate the size of the wave: the oshiokuri-bune were generally between 12 to 15 meters long, and noting that Hokusai reduced the vertical scale by 30%, the wave must be between 10 to 12 meters tall.
The Sea and the WavesThe sea is the dominant element of the composition, that is taken up by an extending wave about to break, which dominates the entire scene. In the moment captured in this image the wave forms a circle whose center is in the center of the design, allowing the viewer to see Mt Fuji in the background.
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