Mount Fuji has long been a central image in Japan’s collective imagination, and nothing captures this more vividly than Katsushika Hokusai’s (1760–1849) celebrated color woodblock series Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji. In his unmistakable style, the renowned painter and printmaker celebrates the beauty of landscapes, cities, people, and the quiet of the natural world. Created at the height of Hokusai’s artistic powers, the series is a key work of the ukiyo-e genre. It brought Hokusai international recognition and established him as one of the leading masters of Japanese woodblock printing.

The series reveals not only Hokusai’s fascination with Mount Fuji, but also the flourishing domestic tourism of the late Edo period. Fuji was a favorite landmark for travelers journeying along the Tōkaidō Road to the capital of Edo (today’s Tokyo), providing an ideal backdrop for each distinct scene. Hokusai’s intoxicating color palette and attention to exquisite detail bring out the character of the landscape and the provincial charm of its surroundings. Alongside perhaps the most famous Japanese woodblock print, The Great Wave off Kanagawa, this universally beloved series stands for Japan’s cultural heritage.

Until now, only a few complete reprints have existed. This XXL-format edition includes all 46 woodcuts: the original 36 plus the ten additional prints Hokusai added later, reproduced with the greatest care and striking quality. In keeping with Japanese tradition, the sheets are reproduced on untrimmed, single-sided printed paper and bound with thread stitching.

These enchanting views of pre-industrial Japan are an exceptional example of the art of woodblock printing, and a perfect complement to TASCHEN’s One Hundred Famous Views of Edo and The Sixty-Nine Stations of the Kisokaidō.