Picture Album Transmitting the Spirit: The Hokusai Drawing Style (Denshin gafu Hokusai gashiki) 1819

Katsushika Hokusai created this woodblock printed book, *Picture Album Transmitting the Spirit: The Hokusai Drawing Style*, using ink and color on paper. Japanese art in this period, which could be mass produced, was deeply involved in the circulation of ideas and the shaping of cultural values. Hokusai’s book transmits the artist's drawing style through studies of natural forms. These are not just neutral representations of the natural world. Pine, plum, and rocks carry special symbolic weight within Japanese culture. The image creates meaning through visual codes that would be immediately recognizable to Hokusai’s contemporaries. But what about the meaning of this book for Hokusai himself? Well, it was made during a time of increasing urbanization and commercialization in Japan. Studying the publishing history of this book will provide a window into the networks of cultural exchange that Hokusai was a part of. By exploring these histories, we can better understand how his work circulated in society.