Boy sitting on a tree branch playing a flute in the foreground, Mt. Fuji in the distance. Freer Gallery, Smithsonian, Washington D.C.

Katsushika Hokusai (October or November 1760–May 10, 1849) was a Japanese artist, ukiyo-e painter and printmaker of the Edo period. In his time, he was Japan's leading expert on Chinese painting. Born in Edo (now Tokyo), Hokusai is best-known as author of the woodblock print series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, c. 1831, which includes the iconic and internationally recognised print, The Great Wave off Kanagawa, created during the 1820s.