Katsushika Hokusai's Fugaku hyakkei - Coda

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Images:

1. "Sumo Wrestlers" by Hayashi Moriatsu: Gasen (the painting hoop net), vol. 5, 1721, as published in Hokusai, First Manga Master by Jocelyn Bouquillard and Christophe Marquet (Abrams, 2007 [Seuil, 2007]); not only didn't Hokusai coin the word "manga," he didn't even invent the concept... he was "just" stunningly talented, that's all...;

2., 3. they may be done in a descriptive rather than narrative spirit, but comic sequences are definitely part of Hokusai's Manga:

2. vol. 10, 1819 (as published in Hokusai, First Manga Master): travelling performers: the game of the hundred grimaces and the high jump (Hokusai was obcessed by the number; he wanted to achieve, at least, one hundred years);

3. vol. 12, 1834 (ditto): Daruma, founder of the Ch'an sect, grimacing;

4. a truly narrative sequence of two images in Fugakku hyakkei (all the following images, but the last two were caught on the link below): "Fuji no yamaaki" (the opening of Fuji), "Suberi" (sliding down): Fujikō religion pilgrims slowly ascend and rapidly descent Mt. Fuji (the images as well as the image sequences must be read from right to left);

5. right: Hokusai represents the daily work of the common people ("Hizami no Fuji" - Fuji carved; soldiers preparing a meal); left: as written on the Emerald Tablet: "that which is inferior, or below, is as that which is superior or above" (translation by John Everard); Hokusai repeats the form of the Fuji in the people's bodies: here ("Sōchū no Fuji" - Fuji in a window), Kawamura Minsetsu forms the triangle with his arms while yawning;

6. two of Hokusai's favorite topics: water and work ("Shinshū Yatsugatake no Fuji" - Fuji and Yatsugatake in Shinshū); Yatsugatake is a volcanic chain of mountains; the water is lake Suwa; 7. "Kaijō no Fuji" (Fuji at sea): Hokusai returns to his famous great wave, but he inverts the reading order; now, the eye flows with the water, it doesn't confront it; plus, the visual poetry suggests the visual metaphor: bird/foam... the harmony of nature...;

8., 9. original drawings (check out this great site: http://www.hokusai-drawings.com/):

8. Chinese hero overpowering three tigers (mid 1820's);

9. a comparison of an original drawing by Hokusai and the printed work: Bei bei kyōdan (a rustic tale of two heirs) vol. 4, 1815 (words by Bakin Kyokutei).

Bibliography re. Fugaku hyakkei: Hokusai, One Hundred Views of Mt. Fuji by Henry D. Smith (George Braziller, 2001 [1988]).

Bibliography re. Hokusai manga: Hokusai, First Manga Master by Jocelyn Bouquillard and Christophe Marquet (Abrams, 2007 [Seuil, 2007]).

PS You may read Fugaku hyakkei, here: http://www.degener.com/a_1606.htm;

Hokusai manga (abbreviated title) Vol. 1: http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/1834/manga1/index.htm ; Denshin kaishu Hokusai manga (complete title: education of beginners through the spirit of things, random sketches by Hokusai; "random sketches" is another possible translation for the word "manga"); translation found on the link below;

Here's how Hokusai Manga looks like: http://www.akantiek.eu/print/hokset.jpg.