Even people who’ve never heard of the Japanese printmaker Hokusai are familiar with his most famous image: a gigantic, stylized plunging wave that has been synonymous with the word “tsunami” for over a century. And what a remarkable image it is! All the violence of the ocean captured in three shades of blue. The yin and yang of the wave in the foreground and the sky in the back.* The tragic fate of the sailors who are about to be consumed. And the life-like quality of the wave itself, breaking into a mass of prehensile claws. With all of this, it’s easy to ignore the likeness, tucked away in the bottom-center of the print, of Mount Fuji.

In fact, Hokusai’s famous wave is only one image – the 18th – from a series called 36 Views of Mount Fuji (or Fugaku Sanju Rokkei in Japanese). The print of the wave (titled Mount Fuji from the Offing in Kanagawa) is undoubtedly the most famous. But there are many other beautiful images in the series.

In some of the prints, Mount Fuji is even more diminished than it is in the print above. Consider this picture of Mount Fuji from Owari, where the snow-capped mountain is only a tiny triangle inside the tub that an old peasant is caulking.

Perhaps the most serene image in the series is Mount Fuji from a Teahouse at Yoshida, a stark contrast to the infamous wave:

In some images, Mount Fuji is much more than a hidden triangle in the background, as in Mount Fuji from the Foot, more commonly known as the “Red Fuji”:

For all 36 views from Mount Fuji (and ten more besides), go here.

* For more on “yin and yang,” see the entry on Taoism: Week 48, Day 7.

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