Katsushika Hokusai

Happy Birthday Katsushika Hokusai!! The Japanese printmaker was born in 1760, in Edo (now Tokyo), Japan, and his father was a mirror maker for the shogun. Katsushika began painting at the early age of 6. Later, he initially worked in a bookstore, but then apprenticed to a woodcarver, then finally began studies with an artist of ukiyo-e and painting. He was also an expert on Chinese painting. His greatest known work is the ukiyo-e painting of The Great Wave off Kanagawa (1830), the first of his series The Thirty-six Views of Mt. Fuji.


Shogun-Military rank and historical title for military dictator of Japan.


Ukiyo-e- The Japanese artistic genre of woodblock printing featuring historical tales, idyllic landscapes, and pleasure quarters.