“The Great Wave Off Kanagawa”-The Essence of Hokusai Blue

‘The Great Wave off Kanagawa’ is one of the most famous art not only as a Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849)‘s prints but also throughout the history of the Japanese art. The Great Wave will be featured on the back of the new 1,000-yen bills to be issued from July, 2024.

You might not be able to imagine from the powerful woodblock print, but when Hokusai drew the series of “Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji” (ca. 1830-1832) including the wave printing, he was already over 70 years old!

The print also influenced the western culture. Vincent Van Gogh acclaimed the artwork and Claude Debussy got the idea of the symphonic poem “La Mer (The Sea).

Hokusai Blue

One of the characteristics of the Great Wave is the refreshing blue color. This beautiful blue was produced by Prussian blue, which was imported to Japan in the 18th century. It is a synthetic chemical pigment that was discovered by chance in the early 18th century by a dye maker in Berlin, Germany. In Japan it was called “Berlin Ai (indigo)” after the place where it was discovered, and this name was gradually shortened to “Bero Ai.” Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858) also loved this blue, and it became popular in his works as “Hiroshige Blue.”