Hokusais

Hokusais is a term occasionally used in catalogues and popular discourse to refer to multiple works connected to the Japanese ukiyo-e master Katsushika Hokusai. It is not a formal designation; rather, it signals a collection of items—either works attributed to Hokusai or pieces produced in a Hokusai-inspired style.

In scholarly contexts the label is infrequent and nonstandard, but when it appears it generally indicates a grouping of several prints or drawings rather than a single piece. Such groupings may include different impressions, color variants, or related compositions drawn from Hokusai’s late 18th‑ and early 19th‑century output. Distinctions between authentic attributions and later reproductions are common in cataloging.

Among works associated with the name are The Great Wave off Kanagawa and other prints from the Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji, as well as landscapes, flora, and urban scenes. Hokusai’s art is valued for dynamic composition, expressive linework, and experimental use of color, including the introduction of Prussian blue in some prints.

The influence of Hokusai extended beyond Japan, contributing to Western interest in Japonisme during the 19th century and later. The term Hokusais, when encountered, underscores the broad and sometimes diffuse reception of his oeuvre, rather than a single canonical corpus.

See also: Katsushika Hokusai; Ukiyo-e; List of works by Hokusai.