Opening of Fuji (Fuji no yamaaki): Detached page from One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku hyakkei) Vol. 1 Possibly 1834 - 1835

Editor: Here we have Hokusai's "Opening of Fuji," from his "One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji." It's a woodblock print, and at first glance, I see these striking white orbs cascading down a mountainside. What's your take on it? Curator: Ah, yes! At first, they appear to be snowballs, but they're actually paper lanterns, each bearing a merchant's mark. Imagine the visual rhythm Hokusai's creating – the lanterns like a visual song! Don’t you think Hokusai’s work pulls us into the rhythm of daily life, intertwined with the sacred mountain? Editor: That’s a really insightful way to put it. I never thought about it that way. Curator: It makes you wonder about the stories behind those marks, the merchants who walked these paths, doesn’t it? I love how a simple print can hold so much.