HOKUSAI KATSUHIKA, One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji n. 58, 1835

Splendid proof with good contrasts, attributable to the print run of Eirakuya Tōshirō (mid-19th century) from the original woods of the Egawa workshop. Printed on Japanese paper, in excellent condition, with original untrimmed margins beyond the marginal 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: The Old Madman of Painting, Milan 1999-2000, London 2003
G.C. Calza, Hokusai: The One Hundred Views of 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
Buhen, literally "battle at the foot of Fuji," depicts a scene of violent action set at the foot of the sacred mountain. Hokusai illustrates the legendary killing of a gigantic boar by the valiant Nitta no Shirō Tadatsune (13th century), an episode drawn from the Soga monogatari (Tales of the Soga Brothers), a story frequently revisited in literature, theater, and the arts of the Tokugawa period. The event takes place during a hunting expedition organized by the shōgun Minamoto Yoritomo, during which the animal, gone mad, had already injured several men before being confronted and brought down by the warrior, armed only with the short sword wakizashi.
In this dramatic composition, Hokusai emphasizes the tension and confusion of the fight to the death through a complex visual structure, in which the human figures and the animal merge into a single dynamic mass. Tadatsune, according to some versions of the legend, would have leaped onto the back of the boar to strike it from above, a gesture that the artist represents with energy and movement. The fur pants (mukabaki) of the warrior, similar to the beast's pelt, make it difficult to distinguish the man from the animal, symbolically merging human courage with the fury of nature.
To the right of the scene, a tangle of bodies can be seen (four wounded or fallen men, recognizable by the number of spears) that heightens the sense of chaos and tragedy. The title of the print, created as a counterpoint to the previous Bunhen (dedicated to poetic activity), underscores the intentional contrast between the harmony of contemplation and the brutality of struggle, presenting Mount Fuji as the eternal backdrop for both the exploits of the spirit and those of arms.