Which artist created the ukiyo-e print commonly known in English as The Great Wave off Kanagawa?

Katsushika Hokusai created the ukiyo-e print commonly known in English as The Great Wave off Kanagawa.

The print’s Japanese title is Kanagawa-oki nami ura, meaning Under the Wave off Kanagawa. It was published in the early 1830s as part of Hokusai’s Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji. The image shows three boats caught beneath a towering wave, with Mount Fuji visible in the background.

Its striking blue is associated with imported Prussian blue, a relatively new and durable pigment in Japanese printmaking. The composition also reflects Hokusai’s interest in European perspective and dramatic spatial contrast.

The work is often called simply The Great Wave, but that nickname can obscure its original subject and series context. It is a woodblock print, not an oil painting, and Hokusai’s full name is Katsushika Hokusai.