Picture Book of New Designs for the Various Crafts (Shōshoku ehon Katsushika shin hinagata 諸職絵本葛飾新鄙形) 1836

This woodblock print is from Hokusai's *Picture Book of New Designs for the Various Crafts*. Here, a horse stands poised, its form rendered with a dynamic energy characteristic of Hokusai's late style. This is not merely any horse but a *shinme*, a sacred horse. In Japanese culture, horses have long been associated with divinity and the conveyance of prayers to the gods. Across cultures, the horse appears as a symbol of power, freedom, and virility. Think of the equestrian statues of Roman emperors, or the steeds of mythical gods. Yet, here, the *shinme* is depicted with a certain humility, a reminder of its role as a servant of the divine. Consider the psychological weight of such symbols: the horse, a primal force harnessed by humanity, now offered back to the heavens. It speaks to our enduring need to bridge the earthly and the celestial, a cycle of giving and receiving that echoes through the ages. We see this symbol return across history, modified, recontextualized. It is a potent reminder of culture’s enduring power.