Kawasaki Ukiyo-e Gallery 

Step into the world of Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849), one of Japan’s most iconic ukiyo-e artists.
Now on view at the Kawasaki Ukiyo-e Gallery, this special exhibition brings together a stunning selection of works spanning nearly 70 years of Hokusai’s career—from his early experiments to his legendary masterpieces.Featuring many of his most famous prints, the exhibition offers a rare chance to experience the creativity of “HOKUSAI,” an artist admired around the world.

 Highlights

1. Hokusai at His Best: A Lineup of Masterpieces
The exhibition features numerous representative works from Hokusai’s seventies—widely regarded as the peak of his artistic career—including the iconic Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji, along with A Tour of Waterfalls in Various Provinces and Remarkable Bridges in Various Provinces.From Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji, three of the most highly acclaimed prints in the series are on display: Fine Wind, Clear Morning (first half), Rainstorm Below the Summit (first half), and The Great Wave off Kanagawa (second half). 

2. A Richly Varied Body of Work
Although Hokusai is best known for the landscape prints of his later years, from a young age he continually refined his skills by exploring a wide range of subjects and techniques.
This section traces the breadth of his work from his early work to his mature period, including rare uki-e prints incorporating Western linear perspective, a Tōkaidō series produced some 30 years before Hiroshige’s, bird’s-eye-view maps depicting major highways, actor prints, and pictorial compositions formed from characters.

3. The Many Facets of Hokusai: Surimono and Book Illustrations
The exhibition also highlights surimono and illustrated books, to which Hokusai devoted considerable attention from his thirties onward.
The former present an elegant world through soft colors and gentle depictions of figures, while the latter are characterized by the dynamic strength of line that moves freely across monochrome pages. Together, these works reveal another dimension of Hokusai’s artistry, distinct from the vivid polychrome nishiki-e prints.