Puppeteer Holding a Puppet on a Go Board c. 1820s

Editor: This is Katsushika Hokusai's *Puppeteer Holding a Puppet on a Go Board.* The print is undated. It feels like there's a lot happening. What symbols do you see at play here? Curator: The puppet itself is a powerful symbol, representing control, but also a loss of agency. The Go board, a site of strategy, becomes a stage. Does the puppeteer control the puppet, or is he merely another piece in a larger game? Consider the layering of reality and artifice. Editor: So, the game is a metaphor? Curator: Precisely. It reflects the social performances of the Edo period. The puppet, the puppeteer, and the game—all echo themes of destiny, social constraints, and the search for meaning. What does that suggest to you about Hokusai's vision? Editor: It makes me think about how art can be a kind of cultural mirror, reflecting our anxieties back at us.