Representations of water are key subjects for Japanese printmakers, and the introduction of Prussian blue pigment in the 1830s allowed Japanese artists to create durable, vivid blue prints. Utagawa Hiroshige’s Awa Province, Naruto Rapids, which features water crashing against rocks, is printed almost entirely in shades of blue. Many prints feature narratives. Utagawa Kuniyoshi tells the story of a man slaying a giant fish in his triptych, Oniwaka-maru slaying a giant
carp Katsushika Hokusai explores nature’s vast scale in his Kirifuri Fall in Kurokami Mountain, Shimotsuke Province. In 1853, when Japan’s leaders opened the country to the West, Japanese printmaking, with its unusual use of cropping, shape, and flat color, inspired painters including Edgar Degas, Paul Gauguin, and Mary Cassatt.