Japanese Ukiyo-e Print – Katsushika Hokusai – No. 46 The Ascent of Fuji – 36 Views of Mount Fuji – Shōwa Edition

Ukiyo-e print, woodblock print. [Shōwa era re-edition using traditional Ukiyo-e woodblock printing craftsmanship techniques]

Print type: Fūkei-ga (風景画 – landscape)

Series: 富嶽三十六景 (Fugaku Sanjūrokkei – Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji)

The legendary series by Katsushika Hokusai, an absolute masterpiece of Japanese printmaking, created around 1830–1832 (Tenpō era).
This plate is the last composition of the series, No. 46.

🎨 Artist: Katsushika Hokusai 葛飾北斎 (signed Saki no Hokusai Iitsu hitsu 前北斎為一筆)

📅 Date of edition: Shōwa era (Japanese handcrafted re-edition, ca. 1950–1970)
(Original edition: Edo, ca. 1830–31 / Tenpō 1–2 by Nishimuraya Yohachi 西村屋与八 Eijudō)

📏 Format: Yoko-e 横絵
With margins: 20.5 × 29.5 cm
Without margins: 19 × 28 cm

📍 Origin: Japan — high-quality Showa print, thick washi paper with visible texture. Discovered in Kyoto Prefecture.

🗻 Subject

This print, unique in the series, does not show Mount Fuji like the others: we are directly on the sacred mountain, amidst the pilgrims.
It depicts worshipers on their way to the summit, dressed in white, battling steep slopes and chilling wind. To the right, in a cave, those who have reached the summit gather, huddled in the cold before dawn.
The red sky announces the sunrise.

This scene evokes the mythical ascent of Fuji-san, sacred to the Japanese since ancient times.
The pilgrims of the Fuji-kō, fraternities of devotion to Mount Fuji, climbed the mountain each year during the good season, dressed in white and carrying a staff.
Hokusai, by this choice, illustrates less the mountain itself than the spiritual experience of its ascent.

✨ Notable Details

• Rare composition, Fuji is experienced from within here.
• Superb blue gradation (bokashi) on the sky and fine engraving on the volcanic rocks.
• Excellent quality Showa print, respecting the chromatic range of the original by Eijudō Nishimuraya Yohachi.
• One of the most spiritual and introspective subjects in the series.

📌 Condition

Very good condition. Fresh colors, supple and well-preserved washi paper.
Clean edges, no creases. Precise printing, controlled gradations. Print glued to its mat with 2 glue points. Ready to be framed.

🦝 Our opinion:

An essential print for any Hokusai collector. The last in the series that beautifully concludes this journey to Mount Fuji – it's finally the arrival!
Shojin Tozan is a unique work in the Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji: less spectacular than “The Great Wave” but with exceptional symbolic depth.
It is a meditation on effort, faith, and spiritual ascent – an image where humanity confronts the sacred mountain.