Ushibori in Hitachi Province (Jōshū Ushibori), from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei)

Ushibori in Hitachi Province (Jōshū Ushibori), from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei)

Katsushika Hokusai

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Mount Fuji appears in all kinds of scenes in the thirty-six prints of the series. In a sense, Hokusai offers a world view in which the sacred mountain is omnipresent. Here we find the bleak life of people who make their living on the water. Ushibori in the province of Hitachi (present-day Ibaragi Prefecture) is a lakeside district east of Edo. Although Ushibori is quite far from Mount Fuji—perhaps the easternmost region from which the mountain is still visible—Hokusai reassures his viewer that here, too, people live with the great mountain. In this composition, Hokusai literally cuts the boat off in the center, by using the rocky hillock in the lower right corner to crop the unseen portion of the boat. This cropping technique gives a sense of immediacy to the picture, and the scene is further enlivened by the rush of two herons to the left, Mount Fuji stands etched solemnly in relief in the background.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Ushibori in Hitachi Province (Jōshū Ushibori), from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei)Ushibori in Hitachi Province (Jōshū Ushibori), from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei)Ushibori in Hitachi Province (Jōshū Ushibori), from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei)Ushibori in Hitachi Province (Jōshū Ushibori), from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei)Ushibori in Hitachi Province (Jōshū Ushibori), from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei)

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.