“The Great Wave in Kanagawa” is perhaps the most popular Japanese print in the world, which has sold millions of copies worldwide and has become a source of inspiration for many designers and artists who have used its motifs wherever possible. It is one of the most famous images of Japanese culture, a reflection of the nation's spirit and attitude to life, the desire to overcome difficulties and elements, even at the cost of one's life. For the Japanese, and not necessarily samurai, it is very important not to lose face, that's why this engraving is in many ways indicative - all the fishermen in one boat bow to the elements, and even a big wave, which could easily overturn the boats and send them all to the bottom, does not cause them panic horror.
In this article we will talk about why fishermen bow to the elements rather than fear them, and about Hokusai's most famous masterpiece.
The Big Wave in Kanagawa
“Big Wave in Kanagawa” opens the series ‘36 Views of Fuji’ - extremely popular in Japan and in the West, so much so that only from the author's engravings of Hokusai, engraved on wooden boards removed about 5 thousand copies and did it until the boards themselves are not completely worn out. In fact, not all of the 5,000 engravings have survived to this day; paper is not a very durable material, and a lot of time has passed, and one must take into account all sorts of fires, wars, earthquakes, and just human carelessness. As a result, the surviving sheets are exhibited in the central expositions of the best museums of the world.
In the bathtub
Hokusai's prints became a source of inspiration for the early Impressionists and later Modernists. However, Hokusai himself studied Western works of art, but only in a roundabout way, almost illegally, because Japan valued traditional values too much, and everything Western was forbidden, considered to be the inventions of “gaijin”.
The Ghost of Oiwa
However, he was able to learn about European prints from Dutch merchants, where he was able to study light shading and perspective. Hokusai first began to paint scenes from the lives of ordinary people, ordinary peasants and fishermen - previously these had all been considered too “low”, unworthy of a true ukiyo-e master. And engravings with landscapes were not made - it was customary to paint them with colors on silks or paper. That is why the most traditional Japanese print, in the opinion of many Europeans, “The Great Wave in Kanagawa” does not really follow traditions, but was created under the influence of Western ideas about art.
Kojikisawa, Kai Province.
The “Great Wave in Kanagawa” leaves a lot of room for interpretation of its meaning. The most traditional version of what is happening and the most obvious is that the fishermen were caught in a sudden storm, probably caused by an earthquake, while fishing in their small boats, which is why the waves are so monstrous. And Hokusai depicted the powerlessness of man before the formidable forces of nature, and he can only resign himself to inevitable death. Some art historians expand the interpretation - it is not the fishermen who are rushing towards imminent doom, but the whole of humanity, and it is just a dull boat compared to the true majesty and wrath of nature.
Tota Aoi ga Oka Waterfall
However, there is another opinion, which is close to those who are familiar with the culture and religion of the Land of the Rising Sun. According to him, man is only a part of the eternal movement of nature, and therefore it is necessary to treat its natural manifestations with appropriate reverence - so you can come out victorious even from a completely hopeless situation and in the next cycle of life to be reborn no longer a fisherman, but a samurai, or, at worst, an official. As you can see, all fishermen want to be samurai, and in the ability to accept death as honorably as possible is the greatness of the Japanese spirit.
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