Hokusai's 'Great Wave' features on new Japanese banknotes (2019) | Hacker News Reader

Hokusai's 'Great Wave' features on new Japanese banknotes (2019)

cnn.com

88 pointsmsephton50 comments

Mokuhankan in Tokyo made a limited woodblock print run of The Great Wave of Kanagawa a couple years ago. It was printed using traditional methods but the templates were made on a computer, using high-res scans of multiple vintage prints as source material. The long process was documented on YouTube. <https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLK-Wicsj5rAasS2g7e-Z9...>

One interesting fact that came up is that: No known existing print has been identified as being from an original print run! All known antique prints in existence are reproductions from back in the day. Japan did not have any copyright law, so copying of prints was common. This has been seen by every print having artefacts that have been recognised as some that can happen while copying, and then those artefacts were copied and so on... The British Museum has an article about it: <https://www.britishmuseum.org/blog/great-wave-spot-differenc...>

I stopped by the Mokuhankan shop when I was in the area last year. David Bull was carving a block on the left as I came in, so I didn't see him at first (my eyes were drawn to the prints, which are arranged into bins like records on the right).

I was wearing an old trade shirt which had a Kurzgesagt sort of look to it. When I bought a print to the till it was in his eyeshot and caught his interest, so he came over for a chat! He's such a nice guy. He asked me what I do, and the next thing I know we're talking about tech stuff, and how he builds his site and shop. A true renaissance man.

Could we add [2019] to the title?

More context:

> On April 9, 2019, Finance Minister Tarō Asō announced new designs for the ¥1000, ¥5000, and ¥10,000 notes, for use beginning on July 3, 2024.

> The ¥1000 bill will feature Kitasato Shibasaburō and The Great Wave off Kanagawa, the ¥5000 bill will feature Tsuda Umeko and wisteria flowers, and the ¥10,000 bill will feature Shibusawa Eiichi and Tokyo Station.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banknotes_of_the_Japanese_ye...

The article is from 2019, but the notes will be rolled out next month (July 2024), so it's quite timely.

Note that the article doesn’t include that context, it only mentions 2024 and not June. A more recent article would have more up to date information.

I couldn't find a recent article from a reputable source with a decent image of the note. Though I didn't spend too much time looking. The note enters circulation July 2024.

I think this is the original announcement from the Ministry of Finance, with pictures down the page. https://www.mof.go.jp/policy/currency/bill/20190409.html

Nice! Of course I was looking for an English language page

I'm curious: Is the Great Wave as iconic within Japan as it is to the West et al? For me it's one of the first pieces of Japanese art I think of, but I've always wondered if that's just because it's closer to the intersection of, say, American and Japanese sensibilities/artistic palate, rather than because it's actually the biggest deal in Japanese art.

As a native Japanese, I can tell you that is true. There are many types of Japanese paintings, but the most popular is ukiyo-e. And I can't think of a more famous ukiyo-e work than "Great Wave". Therefore this is considered the most famous Japanese painting.

If asked to choose one ukiyo-e as an illustration for a banknote, almost all Japanese would choose this work. (Especially considering that the back of the banknote, i.e., a landscape, is required)

Although less famous than "Great Wave", however there are still works that are comparable to it. "Yakko Edobei" by Sharaku is one of them, and it's the most famous ukiyo-e portrait work.

I'm an American who has recently fallen in love with ukiyo-e and shin-hanga. Hiroshige is my favorite artist right now. I'm hanging a print on my wall today for the first time. Really cool stuff!

Hiroshige is so great. 53 stations of Tokaido is comparable work to 36 views of my.Fuji (includes Great Wave).

And you like shin-hanga? You are a very enthusiast! Even in Japan, not many people know shin-hanga.

Check out Hiroshi Yoshida if you like. He is my favorite shin-hanga artist.

Yes, it is. There was an episode of Jet Lag (Amazing Race-type YouTube show) where the contestants drew a challenge card requiring them to find a picture of the Great Wave, but they were deep in the Japanese countryside. They knocked it off at the first vending machine, which had a bottle of water featuring the Great Wave.

That said, it's generally regarded as one of many classic woodcuts, with other works by Hokusai, Hiroshima, Utamaro etc also held in high esteem. And it's known not simply as "Great Wave", but the "Great Wave off Kanagawa", since it's just one of the 36 Views of Fuji series.

> Hiroshima

Guessing you meant Hiroshige.

Sigh, autocorrupt strikes again.

I think one variant of the title has “in the offing”

It's 神奈川沖浪裏 in Japanese, which translates literally as Behind Kanagawa Open-Ocean Wave, referring to Fuji being behind the wave in the composition.

https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/in_the_offing

This summer is the perfect time to see Hokusai’s “Great Wave” in person around the world!

3 impressions go on view this month in Japan (Kawasaki, Okayama, Tokyo)

This coincides with its inclusion on the new ¥1000 bank note from July 2024.

And impressions are still on view in UK, Italy, and USA: https://greatwavetoday.com

Isn’t there always a print in the ukiyo-e museum in Matsumoto? It’s not a very big place, and they only show a small fraction of their collection at any one time, but I definitely enjoyed my visit while I was there

The impression at Matsumoto is not currently in view according to their website.

The prints can't be on display permanently as they fade under light, so they only on view for a few months and then are generally rested for about 4 years.

Last year Matsumoto loaned their impression to Nagano, so it'll be a while until it's on view again.

I'm trying to figure out where the value of experiencing it "in person" comes from.

You get to see the original work. One of the moments where it made a big difference for me was seeing William Eggleston's original prints. They are very different from the reproductions you see online or in print, because of the print process he used. The richness of colours and the way light interacts with the layers making up the print really changed how I see his work. That process is no longer available, sadly.

RGB monitors and CMYK printers have a very limited color space compared to the pigments used in inks and paints. The colors are brighter and more vivid instead of compressed to fit RGB/CMYK. Many of the best art works have to be seen in person to really experience (I haven’t seen the Fuji prints in person so I can’t speak to specifics here).

Big value from museums is curation. You can get context (for example, pieces done by the same person just before or after), explanations (I recommend audio tours! There's loads of info there), and even just having the experience of seeing the actual material and texture in a way that's hard to understand. You can also get exposed to related art and see things in a different light (though honestly this is dependent on the museum. Some curation is inspiring, other curation feels constrained by a lack of imagination or access to the right kind of pieces)

I don't think for a woodprint you'll get this, but for a lot of paintings the scale itself can be impressive. There are multi-meter high paintings out there that can be very mesmerizing.

But it's also just kinda neat!

Experiencing anything in person hits differently, I'm sure you'd agree? Listening to live music, viewing art, being at your child's birth, hanging out with friends.

With music and art in particular, you're not limited to low fidelity reproductions when you witness the real thing. It must be a fairly common desire given that concert halls, museums, and art galleries exist.

In this particular instance, each impression of The Great Wave is different—actually unique—because of the way they were mass produced. So you might want to see a different one, or maybe try to see as many as you can to compare them. Also, in person you might be surprised by its size.

You've seen The Great Wave, the Mona Lisa, etc. but have you seen it?

Personally, the Mona Lisa was entirely unimpressive in person. A rather small painting surrounded by a throng of tourists taking selfies with it. I did as well, of course.

Mona Lisa is largely famous for its history versus its contribution in art. The louvre has far more impressive works.

This is something I've been wondering about with regards to museums, live music, tourist sites, eating foreign food in their places of origin, etc.

Sure, ideally I'd go for all the real stuff, but traveling to faraway places for that requires lots of planning, vacation time, money, and putting up with discomfort along the way. Some of the museum-visiting and sightseeing can probably be replaced by something like a Vision Pro without much loss in the quality of the experiences, with some upsides in the factors I just mentioned.

Whenever I'm on a trip and visit an art or history museum I feel like I'd be able to better enjoy and appreciate the stuff if I weren't so tired from the walking/standing/travel and didn't have to go through the entire collection within the time constraints, and maybe a high-end VR headset at home can offer a higher quality experience. I still haven't paid for a Vision Pro though.

Right now I do try to experience a lot of the aforementioned things (live music etc.) in person, but to be honest I'm not 100% sold on their appeal given the more affordable/convenient/comfortable substitutes we have in the modern world. So far the value for me has been more about the memories I'm making with others than the actual content of the experiences themselves.

Looks like that Apple ad squishing all those analog things under a giant hydraulic press is made for you...

I can say work 100% certainty that the low resolution and limited colour reproduction of Vision Pro is no replacement. We're still a long way from that visually. And even if we do get there we've not considered the vibe and atmosphere. Particularly with live music you can physically feel the vibrations.

It's an interesting question. That it does have value seems unquestionable to me and I suspect to most people.

Seeing an original work by an artist always makes more of an impression on me than just seeing a representation of it.

Being in the presence of something of significance weaves it into your personal history. Does it make you part of a grander narrative somehow? I have felt a kind of awe to witness something that is great in person. But I don't really know why it has the value it does.

That's what I was wondering. If it is self-aggrandizing vanity. I guess it really comes down to personal meaning and preference. Other commenters brought up the valid point of increased sensory bandwidth or curation. Interesting to think about.

I too don't think I would go to a museum to watch only a single artwork. However I've been to a travelling Hokusai exhibit that had the whole set of "36 Views of Mount Fuji" and I thought that was really something.

There were also original drawings, and examples of Hokusai's original "manga" (Hokusai invented the word).

You were very lucky to see such an exhibition!

Beep boop, humans are so illogical.

I wonder if they will ever feature anime/manga art on their paper money.

Waifu banknotes would become worth significantly more than their nominal value... they may want to avoid that.

I could see special editions being made, the same way that special collectors coins are distributed.

if they do that they end up increasing the appeal of JPY bank notes to foreigners

Think they'll do 'dream of the fisherman's wife' next?

Hahaha! For the uninitiated https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dream_of_the_Fisherman's_W...

Article from five years ago

The bank note enters circulation July 2024.

The Great Wave is fantastic art and I'm getting a bit tired of seeing it overused everywhere. This is going to make that even worse.

It's good to celebrate outstanding artwork but having it in everyone's face all the time is antithetical to that.

I think that ship has sailed, it's been gone for at least 100 years.

My Japanese partner was saying that small businesses are complaining about these because apparently some machines that process banknotes are unable to detect them.

I didn't think the notes were in circulation until next month?

Side question: why are USD bank notes so dull ?

I’ve always heard that the aesthetic “stability” of US currency is meant to reinforce the perception of (relative) value-stability.

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