HOKUSAI KATSUHIKA, One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji n. 68, 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
A solemn Korean embassy, accompanied by a band of musicians, advances at the foot of Mount Fuji, towards which the eyes of the foreigners seem to turn in admiration. The procession also includes two young knights (kodō; in Korean sodong), figures traditionally present in diplomatic missions. The marching band plays horns, drums, a gong, and a string instrument, creating a rich and lively parade. On the banners flies the inscription “Raichō”, “going to court,” an expression that reflects the Japanese view that Korean embassies came to pay homage to the Tokugawa court.
However, the scene is the product of Hokusai's imagination: the last true Korean embassy actually arrived in Japan in 1764, when the artist was still a child and therefore had no real opportunity to observe one. His knowledge of the theme comes from the imitations that the inhabitants of Edo staged during the San’nō festival, where every two years a “Korean procession” in costume evoked those authentic ones. These parades, carefully modeled on the embassies that arrived in Edo between 1624 and 1764, differed in numerous details and constituted a sort of “carnival of foreigners,” a symbolic way to represent the other in Japanese culture.
Hokusai makes an additional imaginative shift by placing this procession right at the foot of Fuji, transforming the festive evocation into an idealized diplomatic scene and placing the Koreans in a position of respect consistent with the Japanese view of the time.
In the lower right corner appears an enigmatic detail: three Japanese observe the parade sitting next to a display case and two curious little mounds of sand shaped like small replicas of Fuji. Their meaning is unclear, but it may suggest an unidentified ritual today, contributing to the documentary and fanciful character of the composition.