Hokusai manga (Hokusai Sketchbooks), vol. 13 Possibly 1849

Editor: Here we have a page from Hokusai's Sketchbooks, volume 13. The detail is incredible. It feels almost like a world of gods and monsters condensed onto these two pages. What story do you think Hokusai is trying to tell here? Curator: Ah, Hokusai! I see a dance between the sacred and the profane. The deity on the left almost seems to be playing a drum, while the dragon on the right appears as a force of nature, both powerful and potentially destructive. Do you feel a similar tension? Editor: I do, especially with the dragon. It's both beautiful and terrifying. I never thought of Hokusai as being so… theatrical. Curator: Exactly! Hokusai captured the vibrant energy of Edo-period Japan. A world of spiritualism, folklore, and raw human emotion. I now see it as a window into the past.