葛飾北斎　「富嶽三十六景の内　礫川雪の旦」　 浮世絵錦絵　江戸時代

In this print from his famed Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji series, Katsushika Hokusai explores the close relationship between humans and nature. He exaggerates the towering quality of Mount Fuji, seen from the Koishikawa section of Edo (present-day Tokyo), to emphasize the pleasure and excitement a group of people takes in viewing the mountain, apparent in the pointing gesture of one woman. Outside the private room in which the group shares hot food, the crisp, wintry cold is palpable in the blanket of newly fallen snow covering the roofs, trees, and iconic mountain itself. Even today, amid the hustle and bustle of Tokyo, the Koishikawa Botanical Garden—a patch of land unchanged from the Edo period—presents a tiny oasis of nature, albeit on a much smaller scale.