HOKUSAI KATSUHIKA, One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji n. 65, 1836-1847

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
The scene depicts a group of fishermen at work, engaged in an activity that seems more recreational than laborious, while they are sheltered by a small shrine located on the shore, whose shape resembles the bow of a boat. This curious little temple is dedicated to Fudō Myōō, in the particular manifestation indicated by the inscription at the top of the structure: “Suichū shutsugen Fudō Myōō”, “Fudō appeared from the water.” The place represented has never been identified with full certainty. One hypothesis places it at Sunamura, east of Fukagawa, in the Edo area, on reclaimed land along the bay: however, the Sunamura then known had a Hachiman temple, not a “noble villa,” and there is no documented trace of a specific cult of Fudō in that location.
The shrine depicted may derive from a finding considered miraculous: according to one interpretation, a fisherman would have recovered from the sea a piece of rock or wood with a singular shape, with protrusions resembling flames that traditionally envelop the figure of Fudō. The object would then have been venerated and preserved in the bow of an old fishing boat, giving rise to the structure visible in the image.
The exact location remains unresolved, as does the reference to the alleged “noble villa.” However, the meaning of the scene remains clear: men fishing under the protection of a deity flowed from the waters, in an atmosphere that blends popular devotion, local legends, and daily life along the Edo bay.