Dreams of Mount Fuji: Masterpieces of the Honolulu Museum of Art’s Japanese Print Collection

According to popular belief, a dream of Mount Fuji on New Year’s Eve assures a year of prosperity and happiness. Not surprisingly, Japan’s highest mountain is one of the most iconic subjects of East Asian landscape art. In particular, the woodblock print designer Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849) founded his artistic reputation upon depictions of the volcano.

Dreams of Mount Fuji showcases 200 years of woodblock prints, paintings, and sculptures by more than 20 artists. Among them are three of the most famous Japanese woodblock prints ever created: The Great Wave off the Coast of Kanagawa, Red Fuji, and Thunderstorm Beneath the Summit, all from Hokusai’s legendary series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (1826–1833).