Contest of Genroku Poems on Seashells: Sazae Shell

The Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai created his masterpiece—the print popularly known as The Great Wave—in his 70s. He was previously best known as a designer of surimono, a special type of print that combines beautiful images with poetry. Surimono were privately printed in small batches and usually commissioned by poets whose verses feature in the print. These examples of Hokusai’s surimono render elements of nature in ways that prefigure his Great Wave. Both have verses composed by members of poetry clubs. The Talisman (top left) celebrates spring, while Sazae Shell (top right)—which depicts the Sazae-do temple, whose structure resembles a turban shell—was created for a contest of poems inspired by seashells.