In early Japan, art had a major impact on its culture. Although there were a plethora of artworks that contributed to Japanese culture, perhaps the most famous piece was Hokusai Katsushika's The Great Wave off Kanagawa. This artwork has become exceedingly popular and has influenced cultures outside of Japan. This piece also epitomized its medium, the woodblock print. Along with other artworks such as Evening Bell at the Clock and Crow and Heron, woodblock printing would become exceedingly popular among Japanese culture. The Great Wave off Kanagawa was created in the 1830s by Hokusai Katsushika. The piece was the first installment of a larger project that Hokusai was developing entitled 36 Views of Mt. Fuji. At the age of seventy, Hokusai began creating his woodblock prints. Originally consisting of 36 pieces, another ten were added onto it. According to Dieter Wanczura, “...the production of new designs was stopped for unknown reasons”.
Despite Hokusai's popularity, he was not the first artist to so. “It would be difficult to identify a well-known painter of the Edo period (1600–1868) who did not leave behind at least one work connected to Fuji in some manner. Countless Fujis can be found in landscape and genre paintings, screens and scrolls, mandalas…show more content… After its importation, it not only earned fame for itself, but for its art style. Ukiyo-e gained respect from the art community as a result of Hokusai's popularity, along with other woodblock prints, such as those created by Horunobu. Hokusai may not have pioneered his crafted, since many artworks depicted Mt. Fuji in the early Edo Period, but it can be argued that he saw the rise to the respect of his art. The perception of his art style rose from its humble beginnings to become a well-known form of fine art. Hokusai's The Great Wave off Kanagawa interested masses world wide and will continue to do so in for years to