Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) | Fuji View Plain in Owari Province (Bishu Fujimi-ga-hara) | Edo period, 19th century

Through the perfect ellipse of a large wooden barrel under construction, the tiny triangle of Mount Fuji is framed on the distant horizon like a view through a telescope. Harvested rice fields stretch toward the mountain in the middle distance beyond. The barrel-maker kneels intently over his work, planing the wood as if oblivious to the familiar view before him. As so often in this series, Hokusai delights in the craft and skill of ordinary people at work, finding in their tools and trades an unexpected means of framing the sacred mountain.

Fujimigahara [lit. Fuji View Moor] lay on the road between Nagoya and the Atsuta Shrine and is now part of Fujimicho in the centre of modern-day Nagoya.

Another impression of the same print is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (The MET), accession number JP19, go to:

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/60000595

For a further impression in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, accession number 34.311, go to:

https://collections.mfa.org/objects/246308