Hokusai

Few artists have shaped the visual language of the world quite like Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849). Born in Edo (now Tokyo), the Japanese ukiyo-e master spent nearly nine decades painting, sketching and printing, producing over 30,000 works across his lifetime. He famously called himself the "old man mad with painting," moved house 93 times, and used more than 30 names throughout his career. Today, his prints hang in The Met, the British Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago and homes around the world, with his iconic The Great Wave off Kanagawa widely described as the most reproduced image in the history of art.

At Inka Arthouse, we're proud to stock a curated range of Katsushika Hokusai wall art prints, from the universally recognised Great Wave to lesser-known masterpieces like Hydrangea and Swallow and Red Fuji. Every Hokusai print is reproduced on premium giclée paper using archival inks, available framed or unframed, ready to bring centuries of Japanese woodblock artistry to your walls.

Hokusai's career spanned the entire Edo period, and his work drew on traditional ukiyo-e ("pictures of the floating world") while absorbing European influences that filtered into Japan through Dutch trade. The result was a hybrid visual language: traditional Japanese composition, bold flat colour, and a daring use of linear perspective that no Japanese artist had attempted before. His pioneering use of Prussian blue, a European pigment newly available in Japan, gave his prints their now-signature deep ocean and sky tones.

The Great Wave off Kanagawa (1831) is Hokusai's most-loved work and the first print in his celebrated Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji series. Three small fishing boats are dwarfed by a towering, claw-like wave, with Mount Fuji small in the distance. The composition is both terrifying and serene, often read as a meditation on human powerlessness against nature, or on the tension between Buddhist impermanence and Shinto eternity. We stock multiple versions of this iconic Hokusai print, including the classic The Great Wave Off Kanagawa by Katsushika Hokusai, the alternate The Great Wave by Hokusai exhibition poster, and a striking 3x Great Wave Exhibitions by Hokusai triptych for those wanting a wall-anchoring statement piece. Japanese Cyan by Hokusai and Purple Waves by Hokusai offer beautiful tonal variations on the same masterpiece, and the print sits naturally alongside other ocean masterpieces in our coastal wall art collection for those layering a sea-themed feature wall.

Red Fuji by Katsushika Hokusai, also known as Fine Wind, Clear Morning, is another standout from the Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji series. Where The Great Wave shows Mount Fuji as a small, distant constant, Red Fuji zooms in on the mountain itself, glowing red against a clear blue dawn sky. The print is read as a celebration of Japan's natural beauty and the spiritual significance of Mount Fuji, and is one of the most quietly powerful pieces in Hokusai's catalogue.

Fuji From Gotenyama by Hokusai and Goten-Yama Hill at Shinagawa on the Tokaido continue the Mount Fuji theme through softer, more pastoral compositions, with cherry blossoms and travellers framing the mountain in seasonal warmth. These prints sit beautifully in calm, restorative spaces like bedrooms, hallways and meditation corners.

For lovers of Hokusai's nature studies, Hydrangea and Swallow and Japanese Stork by Hokusai showcase his mastery of kachō-e, the bird-and-flower genre of ukiyo-e. These prints reveal a quieter, more intimate Hokusai, focused on delicate botanical detail and the gentle movement of birds in flight. Browse them alongside the broader Japanese art collection for a fully layered Japanese gallery wall, perfect for kitchens, dining rooms and studies.

For collectors drawn to the more atmospheric corners of his catalogue, Kohada Koheiji by Hokusai and Woman by Katsushika Hokusai offer rarer subjects, the former a haunting figure from his ghost story series, the latter a serene example of his earlier bijin-ga (beautiful woman) portraiture.

Few artists transcend culture and era the way Katsushika Hokusai does. His prints inspired Vincent van Gogh, Claude Monet and Claude Debussy, and sparked the wave of Japonisme that swept through Europe in the late 19th century. The Great Wave itself sits in the permanent collections of The Met, the British Museum and the Art Institute of Chicago, and now lives on the emoji keyboard, an extraordinary journey for a print first sold cheaply in 1830s Tokyo bookshops.

Hokusai wall art works in almost any room and any style of home. In living rooms, The Great Wave makes an instant focal point, its deep Prussian blues anchoring everything around it. In bedrooms, Red Fuji and Fuji From Gotenyama bring calm, restorative warmth. In kitchens and dining rooms, the delicate Hydrangea and Swallow and Japanese Stork prints add a quieter, more painterly presence. Pair Hokusai's prints with works from our vintage art collection for a layered, story-rich gallery wall that draws on centuries of artistry.

Hokusai prints also make one of the most thoughtful gifts going, for art history lovers, ocean lovers, Japan lovers and anyone drawn to images that have endured for nearly 200 years and counting.

Bring centuries of Japanese artistry into your home with our most-loved Hokusai prints, available framed or unframed and ready to hang within days. Choose a sustainably engineered FSC-certified wood frame in natural, white or black timber for a ready-to-hang gift to yourself or a loved one, or order unframed to slot into your own frame collection.

All Hokusai prints at Inka Arthouse are reproduced on the highest quality 230gsm matte art paper using fade-resistant water-based inks, faithfully preserving the deep Prussian blues, soft pinks and earthy ochres of the original woodblock prints. Hang your Hokusai wall art away from direct sunlight to maintain its vibrancy, and rest easy knowing it's covered by our lifetime print guarantee: if your Katsushika Hokusai print ever fades or desaturates, we'll replace it without fuss. Buy The Great Wave, Red Fuji, Hydrangea and Swallow and more Hokusai prints at Inka Arthouse today.