What is the literal English translation of the Japanese title 'Kanagawa-oki nami-ura'?

The literal English translation of the Japanese title “Kanagawa-oki nami-ura” is “Under the wave off Kanagawa.”

The title uses Kanagawa-oki for “off Kanagawa” or “offshore from Kanagawa,” while nami means “wave” and ura means the space beneath or behind it. The familiar English title, The Great Wave off Kanagawa, is more polished and descriptive, but it is not a word-for-word translation.

Katsushika Hokusai’s print was published in the early 1830s as part of Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji. The Japanese title emphasizes the viewpoint beneath the towering wave, while Mount Fuji appears much smaller in the distance beneath the wave’s crest.

“The Wave” and “The Great Wave” are common shortened names, not literal translations of the Japanese wording. The title also does not identify the wave as a tsunami; that interpretation became a later popular misconception rather than an explicit statement by Hokusai.