The Mount Fuji Case

The painting shows three Japanese cargo boats (oshiokuri-bune) in heavy seas on the point of encountering the anonymous waves. The Mount Fuji is glimpsed in the distance behind the waves.

The artwork is carved in s woodblock and colored with printed ink. Despite of the wooden material, the lines are smooth and curvy. The ocean wave crest comes from the left side of the painting and moving towards the right side. The wave crest itself takes up almost the entire left side of the painting and the wave trough is on the right bottom side. The ocean current moves from right to the left. Through the curve of the trough we can see the summit of the Mount Fuji, which is is half covered in snow. The ocean wave itself is in dark blue, sometimes a little black. The whitecaps cover on top of the entire ocean floor and wave. At the top of the wave crest, the ocean droplets forms many hook-shaped white sprays, and these sprays spread out on the waves.

There are three Japanese cargo boats drifting in the ocean, the boats are flat-bottomed and have long, pointed bow. They all have four outriggers on the boats. The boat that is closest locates on the very bottom right side of the painting, showing only the four outriggers and the front bow. The other part of the boat is hidden behind the ocean currents. The closest boat tilts a little bit upward to the right. The second closest boat is at the left side of the painting and is mostly hidden in the ocean. With only the front bow and one outrigger showing, the second closest boat declines through the wave. The farthest boat is just in front of the Mount Fuji. The farthest boat inclines to the right, showing all part of its boat, including the bow, the four outriggers and the stern.

The sky around the snow-capped Mount Fuji is in darkness, and the sky turns golden as the sky higher up. The yellowish-white huge cloud locates above Mount Fuji, and the Mount Fuji is in the distance just beneath the cloud base.

The Hanko (a Japanese name plate) is at the very left side of the painting, showing Hokusai's name and the date.

...