Hokusai-kan

photo by キャンター · CC BY-SA 4.0

At 83 Hokusai himself painted ‘waves’ and ‘dragon and phoenix’ on two festival floats.

Walking through the rooms, you come to the two ceilings of the processional floats painted by Hokusai himself (‘male waves’ and ‘female waves’ for the Kamimachi float, ‘dragon’ and ‘phoenix’ for the Higashimachi float), displayed together with other paintings and drawings from the artist's last decade.

Museum devoted to Katsushika Hokusai, who first came to Obuse in 1842, at the age of 83, perhaps to escape the restrictions of the Tenpō reform in Edo, perhaps at the invitation of the local patron Takai Kōzan, with whom he spent the last years of his life working. On later journeys he painted the two float ceilings, dated 1845 (Kamimachi) and 1844 (Higashimachi). The museum opened in 1976 and in 2026 marks fifty years since its opening.

ℹ️ Open 9:00–17:00 (last entry 16:30). Tickets: 1,800 yen for adults, 800 yen for students, 500 yen for children, free for under-6s.

🚉 Obuse · 11 min walk

Sources: hokusai-kan.com

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