the great wave of kanagawa

The Great Wave of Kanagawa (神奈川 沖浪 裏 Kanagawa okinami ura ?, lit. "A great wave off Kanagawa") is a ukiyo-e style woodcut by the Japanese painter Hokusai first published between 1830 and 1831.

It is the first and most famous work in the series entitled Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (富 嶽 三 十六 景 Fugaku sanjūrokkei?), As well as being the most famous of its kind and one of the best-known images in the world.

Measuring 25.7 × 37.9 cm, it depicts a stormy wave that threatens some boats off the coast of an area corresponding to today's prefecture of Kanagawa; as in all the other representations of this series Fuji appears in the background. Although it is seen as the work that most represents Japanese art, in reality it combines traditional elements of oriental painting and characteristics typical of the western style in equal measure.