Katsushika Hokusai 葛飾北斎

In many Asian belief systems, natural elements such as mountains, rivers, wind, and water are considered sacred, and thought to be inhabited and personified by deities. These prints depict Mount Fuji, considered the holiest mountain in the Japan and long central to Buddhist and Indigenous Japanese beliefs and to cults dedicated to mountain worship. Pilgrims scale Mount Fuji to worship and pay homage, as shown at right. Wearing straw hats and aided by walking sticks, they trudge up the steep slope, stopping at grottoes to pray.

—WC

Mount Fuji, Japan's tallest and most famous mountain, has long been celebrated in art. A volcanic peak that last erupted in 1707, it inspired the awe of pilgrims, for whom climbing it was an act of worship. Though other prints from this series emphasize such human activities around the mountain, in this one the mountain stands majestically alone. Its reddish color indicates that it is late summer or early autumn.