Whaling off Goto. 19th century Japan. Public domain image.

Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849) was a brilliant artist, ukiyo-e painter, and printmaker, best known for his woodblock print series Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji, which contains the prints The Great Wave and Fuji in Clear Weather. These pictures are famous both in Japan and overseas and have left a lasting image in the worldwide art world.