Taking Sides

Hokusai's "36 Views Of Mount Fuji" is quite famous, the most of which is Number 1. "The Great Wave Off Kanagawa".* Recently, I found a postcard I bought of this picture and studied it properly for the first time. Please go ahead, take a look.


I was so consumed with the wave (or tsunami as I imagined) that Fuji took a back-seat. Even later, I noticed the three boats caught in the tempest. With this perspective, Fuji looks tiny and it never occurred to me how ridiculous this disastrous event would be, especially considering it is the first graphic of the set.

Reading more, I realised that for a Japanese person who would look at the picture predominantly from the right side, the wave is much smaller and Fuji is clearly far in the distance; the wave is large but not catastrophic. Moreover, the size of the boat to the mountain reflects the proportions much quicker.

Regardless of how it is viewed, it is a beautiful image.

*Tsunashima was in Kanagawa.