Hokusai's Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji: Tokyo to Lake Suwa

Hokusai's Under Mannen Bridge at Fukagawa shows a crowded, arched bridge with samurai residences on the far bank and a modest Mount Fuji in the distance. Mannen Bridge crossed the Onagi River just before it met the Sumida, in what is now Koto ward, Tokyo. It is one of the plates made around 1830 to 1832. The pin marks the modern Mannen Bridge, a public bridge in Koto ward that you can walk across.

Visitor guidance: Mannen Bridge is a public bridge in Koto ward, Tokyo.

In Hokusai's view of Suruga-chō, workers stand on the roof of the Mitsui Echigoya store while Mount Fuji rises in the distance at New Year. Suruga-chō is today's Nihonbashi-Muromachi in Chuo, Tokyo, and the Mitsui Echigoya store is now Mitsukoshi. The print belongs to the series made around 1830 to 1832. The pin marks today's Mitsukoshi in Nihonbashi, the successor of the shop Hokusai drew, so you can stand in the same district.

Location precision: The pin marks today's Mitsukoshi in Nihonbashi, the successor of the store in the print.

Visitor guidance: Mitsukoshi's store in Nihonbashi, Tokyo, is open to visitors.

The print Tama River in Musashi Province shows the wide Tama with Mount Fuji beyond. Few people appear: only a man leading a horse on the near bank and a boatman with a boat of brushwood. The exact spot is not named; it is thought to be a landing near Chofu on the middle Tama. The plate dates from the series made around 1830 to 1832, and the pin marks Chofu as the likeliest area.

Location precision: The print does not name the crossing; the pin marks Chofu, the area suggested for the scene.

Hodogaya on the Tōkaidō looks at Mount Fuji from the slope between the Hodogaya and Totsuka post stations on the old Tōkaidō highway. Hokusai lines the road with pines and draws the travelers in detail. The plate dates from the series made around 1830 to 1832. The pin marks the area of that slope in Yokohama, not an exact viewpoint.

Location precision: The print names a slope between two post stations; the pin marks the district around it, not the viewpoint.

Visitor guidance: Hodogaya in Yokohama is on the old Tōkaidō route.

The Great Wave off Kanagawa is Hokusai's most famous print, created in late 1831. Three oshiokuri-bune, fast barges that carried live fish from the Izu and Bōsō peninsulas to Edo, are caught under a towering wave with Fuji small in the distance. Analysis places the scene in Edo Bay off today's Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama, with Edo to the north and Fuji to the west. There is no landmark; you can only look out over the bay.

Location precision: The scene is open sea; the pin marks Kanagawa-ku, the nearest coast.

A View of Mount Fuji Across Lake Suwa looks down on the lake with Mount Fuji barely visible in the distance. Takashima Castle is shown on a promontory just below Fuji, though the castle now stands well inland. The plate dates from the series made around 1830 to 1832. The pin marks Lake Suwa in Nagano, since the exact viewpoint is not named.

Location precision: The vantage point is not named; the pin marks the lake in Nagano.

Visitor guidance: Lake Suwa is a public lake in Nagano.

In Kajikazawa in Kai Province, a man casts fishing lines tied to cormorants into the violent Fuji River, with Mount Fuji above. Kajikazawa lies where the Kamanashi and Fuefuki rivers join to form the Fuji, in today's Fujikawa, Yamanashi. The plate dates from the series made around 1830 to 1832. The pin marks the Fuji River near Fujikawa; the rock where the fisherman stands is not identified.

Location precision: The pin marks the Fuji River at Fujikawa; the exact rock is not identified.