(1760-1849) Japanese artist. He was the leading printmaker of his time and a major exponent of ukiyo-e. He published 36 Views of Mount Fuji about 1823–29, and produced outstanding pictures of almost every kind of subject—birds, flowers, courtesans, and scenes from legend and everyday life.
Under the Wave at Kanagawa (British Museum, London) is typical.
Hokusai was born in Edo (now Tokyo) and studied wood engraving and book illustration. He was interested in Western painting and perspective and introduced landscape as a woodblock-print genre. His Manga, a book crammed with inventive sketches, was published in 13 volumes from 1814.