HOKUSAI KATSUHIKA, One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji n. 3, 1834

A splendid impression with good contrasts, attributable to the Eirakuya Tōshirō edition (mid-19th century) from the original blocks of the Egawa workshop. Printed on Japanese paper, in excellent condition, with original uncut margins beyond the border line.

Annotated Bibliography
H.D. Smith II, Hokusai: One Hundred Views of Mt. Fuji, New York: George Braziller, 1988
M. Forrer, Hokusai, London: Royal Academy of Arts, 1991
M. Forrer, Hokusai, New York: Rizzoli, 1988
M. Forrer, Hokusai: Prints and Drawings, Munich: Prestel, 1991
G.C. Calza, Hokusai: il vecchio pazzo per la pittura, Milan 1999-2000, London 2003
G.C. Calza, Hokusai: le cento vedute del Fuji, Milan: Editoriale Nuova, 1982
J. Hillier, The Art of Hokusai in Book Illustration, London: Sotheby Parke Bernet, 1980
J. Hillier, L. Smith, Japanese Prints: 300 Years of Albums and Books, London: British Museum Publications, 1980
R.S. Keyes, Ehon: The Artist and the Book in Japan, New York: George Braziller, 2006
T. Clark (ed.), Hokusai: Beyond the Great Wave, London: British Museum Press, 2017
M. Forrer, W.R. van Gulik, Hokusai and His School: Paintings, Drawings and Illustrated Books, Leiden: Society for Japanese Arts and Crafts, 1991
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/78803

Commentary
En no Shokaku (633-703), known as Ubasoku, on the edge of the sacred mountain’s crater in the meditative “lotus” position with his hands posed in the esoteric Buddhist sign indicating the sword of the god Fudo, to exorcise the spirits emerging materialized in the vapors released from the bowels of the volcano. His heavy clogs are set aside to assume the cross-legged meditation position on a straw mat, while his clothes and rosary decorated with tassels are lashed by the furious wind. Gazing into the turbulent gray clouds erupting from the crater, one can discern the effects of this powerful act of exorcism: the faces of countless evil spirits (oni) tempting and threatening the hermit. At least thirteen distinct faces are recognizable, and one of them (just above and to the left of the rosary tassel) holds a staff similar to the man's. En no Shokaku was a Buddhist prophet hermit, a precursor of the Shugendo sect of yamabushi, ascetic mountain monks. He was the first man to climb Mount Fuji, while the temple on the mountain was later erected by Emperor Heijo (774-824) in 806, in the first year of his reign.
Legend has it that Ubasoku would fly over the waters at night, accompanied by two trained oni, Zenki and Goki, as personal assistants, then ascend Fuji to meditate. The term soso in the title literally means “founder of a temple.”
The subject had already been depicted in Hokusai Manga vol. X and Hokusai gashiki, both from 1819.