Katsushika Hokusai, Hokusai manga (Hokusai's whimsical drawings)
Tokyo, Yoshikawa Hanshichi, 1878

A painter, draughtsman and printmaker, Katsushika Hokusai produced an enormous body of work over 70 years. His 15-volume Manga was first published in 1814 and contains thousands of images depicting all aspects of Japanese daily life. Hokusai's drawings reveal both his technical mastery and his humorous observations of the world around him. Manga was an instant success in Japan, and became beloved by the wider world from the 1850s, when Japan opened its borders to foreigners.