Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji

Have you ever seen a giant blue wave, so big it looks like it has claws reaching for the sky. Or maybe a quiet village waking up as the sun paints the morning pink. I have seen a bright red bird, called a crane, flying past a mountain covered in snow. In every single one of my pictures, you can find the same special friend peeking out from near or far. It is a tall, beautiful, pointy-topped mountain. I am a collection of pictures, and my name is the Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji. I am not just one picture, but many, each showing the same mountain in a new and exciting way.

My story began with a wonderful artist named Katsushika Hokusai. He lived a very long time ago in a busy city in Japan called Edo, which is now named Tokyo. Around the year 1830, he decided to create me. Hokusai was full of energy and his hands loved to draw. He wanted to show everyone how amazing Mount Fuji was. This mountain is sacred, which means it is very special and important to the people of Japan. To make my pictures, he used a special method. First, Hokusai would draw a scene with his ink brush. Then, other talented people would carve his drawing into blocks of wood. They made a different block for every single color. It was like creating a stamp. Finally, they would press ink on the blocks and stamp them onto paper, one color at a time, until the whole beautiful picture appeared. It took a whole team to bring me to life.

When people first saw my pictures, they loved them. They were like colorful windows looking out at Mount Fuji from all different places and during every season. Fishermen saw the mountain from their boats, and travelers saw it from the road. My pictures were so popular that after the first thirty-six were finished around the year 1832, Hokusai made ten more. So, I am really forty-six views. My story did not stop in Japan. My pictures traveled on big ships across the ocean to faraway countries. They inspired other artists and showed them a new way to see the world. Today, I still help people everywhere see that the same thing can look different and beautiful from every angle. I hope I can inspire you to look closely at the world around you and find your own wonderful views to share.