JP1847
During the Edo period of 1615 to 1858 the Tokugawa Shogun took over Japan and cut itself off from the world considering a threat from the western world and Christianity. Strict social order was imposed starting with Emperor, Shogun and court nobles on the top followed by Samurai in the next layer, farming peasants, artisans and lastly the merchant class. Interaction between the classes was forbidden. By mid 18th century as the economy started to boom merchants rose through the ranks and could offer luxury like education, travel, books and art. Wood block prints known as ukio-e or. The merchants search for sensual pleasures became to known as "ukiyo" meaning "the floating world", a culture that developed in the red light district of Edo. It was here alongside the brothels we could find puppet shows, poets, writers and kabuki theaters. The commercial prints that were produced were mostly famous courtesans and kabuki actors. Woodblock prints known as "ukiyo-e" or "pictures of the floating world" were sold in thousands and constant demand for new images of celebrities and new prints to collect that can be bought for a price of a bowl of noodles. Hokusai, born in 1760 painted portraits of kabuki actors as a teenager for woodblock prints, but later shifted towards painting the landscapes and daily life of Japanese people. This change of subject was a breakthrough in both ukiyo-e and Hokusai's career, and became the most sought after in Japan. At the age of 70 he embarked on his most ambitious project, "36 views of Mt Fuji" and one of which is The Great Wave of Kanagawa.
1) Reduce Operating Cost 2) Improve Visibility 3) Reduce Complexity 4) Improve experience 5) Improve design 6) Improve detectability

The Great wave off kanagawa – Hokusai

  • 1

    Celebrities to landscapes

    Goal-  Create a new genre of Ukio-e

    Blocker - The new style created must be something that can be easily relatable to the viewer

    Solution - Hokusai shifted from painting celebrities to landscapes. He used multiple principles in this innovation. He first eliminated the traditional kabuki actors from the work. He then started merging the life of ordinary men into the sacred landscapes created. So his new style was a mix of landscapes along with the Japanese lifestyle.

  • 2

    Increase Sales

    Goal-  Increase the sales of landscape prints

    Blocker - The landscape prints were not as popular as celebrity prints

    Solution - By 18th century there was steady flow of merchants, peddlers, pilgrims and pleasure seekers heading to Mt Fuji. They were the enthusiastic audience who would buy a new genre of souvenirs: Woodblock prints showing famous places around Japan. This is when Hokusai painted the 36 views of Mt Fuji

  • 3

    Prussian Blue

    Goal-  The publishers wanted to increase sales of the prints by providing a better quality through brighter colors that would not fade sooner

    Blocker - The cost of the colors were high

    Solution - The Prussian Blue, a synthetic color which had been very expensive, became available at a low price via China. Hokusai's publishers commissioned the 36 views to exploit this new innovative color. The Prussian blue was more vivid, had greater tonal range and didn’t fade

  • 4

    The realistic view

    Goal-  Make it easy for the viewer to understand every component of the landscape

    Blocker - There are too many components like the wave, Mt Fuji, the boat..etc

    Solution - The Prussian Blue, a synthetic color which had been very expensive, became available at a low price via China. Hokusai's publishers commissioned the 36 views to exploit this new innovative color. The Prussian blue was more vivid, had greater tonal range and didn’t fade

  • 5

    Create a sense of dread

    Goal-  While Hokusai was working on this painting, there were talks of foreign incursions in Japan and he wanted to convey that through the sea which contrasts to Mt Fuji, the soul of Japan

    Blocker - With too many components in the landscape would be hard for the viewer to detect any component of dread or the message of uncertainty.

    Solution - The wave performs multiple functions. The distance of Mt Fuji from the wave adds a sense of dread, the claws of the waves gives a sense of the waves attacking the fishermen