Katsushika Hokusai

Hello! My name is Katsushika Hokusai, and I was an artist in Japan. I was born a very long time ago, on October 31st, 1760, in a busy city called Edo, which is now called Tokyo. Ever since I was a little boy, I loved to draw. I drew on everything I could find! I knew, even when I was only six years old, that I wanted to be an artist when I grew up.

When I was a teenager, around the year 1778, I went to work for a famous artist named Katsukawa Shunshō. He taught me how to make special pictures called ukiyo-e, which means 'pictures of the floating world.' These were made by carving pictures into blocks of wood, covering them with ink, and pressing them onto paper. It was like making a stamp! As I grew as an artist, I changed my name many times—more than 30! It was my way of showing that I was starting a new chapter in my art. Hokusai is the name I am most famous for.

I loved to draw scenes from the world around me, especially the biggest mountain in Japan, Mount Fuji. Around 1830, I decided to create a series of pictures showing the mountain from all different places. The most famous one is a picture you might have seen. It's called 'The Great Wave off Kanagawa.' It shows a giant, curling wave with white foam that looks like claws, and tiny boats with fishermen inside. If you look closely, you can see little Mount Fuji in the background, calm and steady behind the powerful wave.

I drew and painted for my entire life, always trying to get better. I lived to be 88 years old, and I was still holding a paintbrush right up to the end. I hoped to live even longer to become an even better artist. Today, my pictures, especially my Great Wave, are known all over the world. They show people the beauty of Japan and the power of nature, and I hope they inspire you to look closely at the wonderful world around you, too.