If we think of an image that symbolizes the artistic creation of Japan, it will certainly come to mind, even if we do not know the name of the author, the picture of a blue wave that rises and, in its movement, creates the framework for a mythical mountain , Mount fuji. This image, The Great Wave off Kanagawa, was created around 1830 by a septuagenarian: by then he had been experimenting with techniques and styles for more than half a century and had produced thirty thousand paintings, sketches, and drawings for engravings. Katsushika Hokusai was born in 1760 and lived in the Edo Period, the time of the shoguns. The era, perhaps the most astonishing in Japanese history, began in 1603 and lasted until 1868, with the start of the Meiji era. The ruling clan - the powerful Tokugawa family - decreed the closure of the archipelago abroad and led the country to unparalleled secrecy. This isolation led to the development of customs different from those of the rest of the world. Some of Japan's most original cultural creations, such as kabuki theater and ukiyo-e engraving, come from that time. And also, some of the most famous traditions - and stereotypical and poorly told - such as the world of geisha.
What role did women have in that world? What did the social rise of the new urban class mean? When did samurai lose their privileges? In this book we introduce ourselves fully to the Japan of the Edo Period. A fascinating journey to a remote time to meet the artist who signed as Hokusai, and what is true and myth about the customs and protagonists of an unrepeatable time and culture.