Katsushika Hokusai

Hello! My name is Katsushika Hokusai, and I am an artist from Japan. I was born in the great city of Edo, which you now know as Tokyo, way back in the year 1760. Even when I was a very small boy, I knew I loved to draw more than anything. I would draw pictures of everything I saw around me. I didn't have paper and pencils like you do, so I often practiced drawing in the sand with a stick. I believe I started drawing when I was just six years old!

When I was a teenager, around the year 1778, I became an apprentice to a famous artist named Katsukawa Shunshō. An apprentice is like a student who learns by helping their teacher. I learned a special kind of Japanese art called ukiyo-e. That means 'pictures of the floating world.' Ukiyo-e artists made woodblock prints, which is a way to make many copies of a picture by carving it into wood. We made pictures of famous actors, beautiful women, and scenes from everyday life. As I grew as an artist, I changed my name many times—more than thirty! Each name marked a new chapter in my life and a new style for my art.

As I got older, I became fascinated by the beauty and power of nature. My biggest inspiration was the magnificent Mount Fuji, the tallest mountain in Japan. Between the years 1830 and 1832, I created my most famous collection of prints, called 'Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji.' You might have seen one of them before! It is called 'The Great Wave off Kanagawa.' In that picture, I drew a giant, powerful wave with its foamy claws reaching for the sky. In the distance, you can see tiny boats with fishermen, and even farther away, the calm and steady Mount Fuji. I wanted to show how powerful nature is, but also how people can be brave in the face of it.

I never, ever wanted to stop drawing. I worked every single day, from the moment I woke up until the moment I went to sleep. I drew thousands and thousands of pictures in my lifetime—paintings, sketches, and prints. I drew animals, people, ghosts, and landscapes. In my later years, I even gave myself a new name: Gakyō Rōjin Manji, which means 'The Old Man Mad About Painting.' I truly was! I hoped that if I lived to be 100, I would become a divine artist, and that if I lived to 110, every dot and line I drew would be alive.

I lived a very long and busy life, filled with art. I lived to be 88 years old and passed away in my hometown of Edo in 1849. Though my time on Earth ended, my pictures traveled far beyond Japan. My 'Great Wave' and other works journeyed across the ocean to Europe and America, inspiring famous artists there. Today, people all over the world can see my art in museums and books, and I am remembered as one of Japan's greatest artists. I hope that when you see my pictures, you feel the same wonder and love for the world that I did every time I picked up my brush.