Hokusai Katsushika

An ukiyoe artist from the second half of the Edo period.

In addition to "Katsushika Hokusai", he had over 30 other pen names like "Gakyo Rojin" and "Sori".

As a painter representing Japan, he had a great influence on foreign painters and musicians such as Gogh and Debussy.

Known for his terribly fast brush strokes, he left behind 30,000 works in his lifetime. The aforementioned works range from ukiyo-e woodblock prints to paintings done by hand, manga (different from modern manga), and shunga (pornographic art).

In his later years, he was living together with his third daughter, "Katshushika Ōi" who worked as his assistant.

His most important works are the woodblock print series “Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji“, "Hokusai Manga", the monster paintings from his "Hyakumonogatari" series, the shunga "“The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife“ and others.

He was known as an oddball who stood out with his eccentric behavior, such as changing residence 93 times during his lifetime, or being really careless with money despite living in extreme poverty. On the occasions when he ventured outside, he was constantly reciting incantations and the like.

At some point, Katsushika encountered an Outer God. Most ordinary humans would have been rendered hopelessly insane or turned into mindless thralls by its presence, but sheer stubbornness and dedication to portray what he had seen on his own terms allowed him to keep his mind intact.