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Hokusai's 'The Great Wave off Kanagawa' from his series 'Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji' was featured on Japan's redesigned ¥1,000 banknotes starting in July 2024. The print, known for its indigo and Prussian blue ocean imagery with Mount Fuji in the background, had already become one of Japan's most recognizable images, appearing on merchandise ranging from mugs and T-shirts to Godzilla mashup items.
Why it matters
Unlike works such as the 'Mona Lisa'—which exists as a singular original—'The Great Wave' is a woodblock print created by multiple artisans (engraver, painter, and others working alongside Hokusai), making it reproducible and widely distributed. Its placement on currency underscores how Japan's most iconic artwork functions differently from how iconic art typically works in the West: it is not a rare, singular creation but a mass-produced image.
What to watch
The banknote placement marks yet another proliferation of the image's reach into everyday life. The question of what truly constitutes Japan's 'Mona Lisa'—a singular, revered masterpiece—remains unresolved, given that 'The Great Wave' operates as a reproducible, distributed design rather than a protected original.
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